Enjoy, folks. If you have any questions about taking advantage of this service to the fullest extent, read this post or get in touch. I’ll be happy to help you out.

Besides a review book, I never paid any person or service for help in preparing for the SAT. I’m frugal as it is, and paying for help when it comes to something like this felt dirty to me. However, looking back at my own experience, I fully recommend a paid service. The SAT is just too important not to fully prepare for. If my scores were higher, which I believe an intense paid service may have done, I may have gotten into my reach school. You never know.

In my case, I had a very passive study path for the test. One of the few things I did in preparing for my first spar with the exam was to familiarize myself with its setup; that’s where the review book from the Princeton Review came in handy. I learned about the types of questions and became familiar with the caliber of reading, writing, and mathematics questions given.

The most important component of anything I did for the SAT, though, was to use the CollegeBoard’s SAT Question of the Day service, every single day. Hands down, it’s the best way to prepare. Just do it.

One of more distinctive things I did in preparing for the test was carry around my Hipster PDA. The Hipster PDA is a stack of index cards held together with a binder clip, as invented by Merlin Mann, one of my heroes.

On one side, I kept my next actions list, which is similar to a to-do list. On the other side, I wrote down words I saw or heard in real life that I didn’t know. When I got home that day, I looked the word up and wrote its definition down on another card. On my bus rides and other commutes, I’d review all of the words I’d accumulated.

After following these steps, here were my scores:

Critical Reading: 680
Mathematics: 680
Writing: 730
Total (of 1600): 1360
Total (2400): 2090

At that point, I wanted to bring the two important sections’ scores up: critical reading and mathematics. For me, I was disappointed in my math score. I knew I could have done better, but I reasoned that the length of the test got to me. Critical reading was an uphill battle; it was the section I was weakest at, the one where I’ve always had the most problems.

Over the summer and into the early portion of my senior year, I did a few things. First, I watched the video podcasts from ePrep; they were useful for strategizing and were entertaining, too. I also started listening to This American Life, an entertaining and enlightening public radio program from Chicago Public Radio. Just like reading, something I definitely should have done more of, listening to public radio expands the mind. I read my usual summer amount, which admittedly isn’t much. However, I started listening to audiobooks, which fit much better into my lifestyle. Of course, I continued to take my SAT Question of the Day and write down words I didn’t know on my Hipster PDA.

What’s the takeaway here? I didn’t prepare for my second SAT. I just lived an intellectually healthy lifestyle by taking in useful information through podcasts, blogs, and audiobooks. The biggest component of that was not watching television; I recommend eliminating the stupidity box from your life. Although there is good, compelling content on TV, most of it is pure filth.

And for my elitism, what did I get? I brought up my scores quite a bit.

Critical Reading: 760
Mathematics: 750
Writing: 740
Total (of 1600): 1510
Total (2400): 2250

If I had to prepare for the test yet again, I’d spend almost all of my free time at FreeRice, the altruistic and mind-enriching vocabulary game.

Happy studying!

I’m sorry to write with the disappointing news that we won’t be able to admit you from the waitlist this year. (You’ll receive an official letter in the mail, but I wanted to let you know as soon as possible.)  I know that you’ll have a terrific and successful experience wherever you choose to enroll next year and I wish you the best of luck as you continue your education.

Sincerely,

Stu Schmill
Dean of Admissions

I’m glad to finally have an answer, regardless of what it was. I did my best and that’s all I could have asked for.

A quick side note; I wish the Dean of Admissions at MIT didn’t send the same email to 52 other students on the waitlist, thereby releasing the email addresses (personally identifiable information) of the 52 other students to all 53 recipients. That’s not all that technically savvy, tragically.

You may have noticed that I changed the tagline at the top of the blog. I am, in fact, a student in transition. This blog was founded to capture my college admissions experience, and I have a few more College Admissions posts kicking around in my head. I’ll put them to virtual paper and then organize the College Admissions page. I plan on leaving the page on the navigation at the top of the site as a resource for students going through the same hell experience I just emerged from.

Now that the first goal of my blog is accomplished, I don’t think I need another one. I’ll keep writing about the end of my time at Dover High School, my summer employment, and my transition to Boston. That sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

Let me know what you think. And, by the way, how are you?

I’ll be taking a few more days off, but until then, I have a few thoughts about experiences with admissions offices.

I got mail from Lafayette College and RPI last week. The contents of the mail typifies my overall experience with the schools. RPI sent me a very pretty box containing an object that I’d really lost interest in – the Rensselaer Medal. After all this time, I finally received the physical object that accompanies the scholarship I received there; to be honest with you, it isn’t all that impressive. It’s more like the Rensselaer keychain than anything else and it feels too hoity-toity for my taste, much like the entire RPI experience from the mouthes of their admissions officers.

A complete contrast, Lafayette College sent me a letter containing this:

Thank you for notifying us of your decision to withdraw your application for admission to Lafayette College.

Best wishes for a successful conclusion to your senior year. If we can be of assistance to you at any time, please do not hesitate to contact me or any other member of the admissions staff.

After spending a considerable amount of time on the Lafayette campus and more time corresponding with the school’s admissions office, I really believe their offer of help.

Always – it’s all about the brand.

Thank you for your help. I couldn’t have done it without you on this journey, no matter how small a role you played. Special awesome shout-outs to Kim for constantly pushing me and asking questions, and Chris for suggesting I start a blog about college admissions.

But I digress. This is a serious post about serious business – where I’m go to college. It’s coming down to the wire for me. I must decide between two schools that gave me great deals, Lafayette and Tufts. However, that’s a decision for another day. Let’s talk about my visit to Tufts.

It was a beautiful day and the campus was stunning. Everything went swimmingly and I really liked the place. I went to a question and answer session for admitted students, a basic information session, and a tour. The question and answer session was surprisingly helpful while the information session was useless. No big deal, the tour was awesome.

My group’s tour guide was hilarious and wacky. He was frank, told us things he did and did not like about the school, and had a really awesome Boris and Natasha t-shirt. He was either the most honest tour guide I’ve ever had or a master salesman. Either way, I was sold.

Every school has its big themes, parts of the school’s experience that prospective students hear about every five minutes while on campus. Tufts, as expected, had the “liberal arts college with impressive engineering” angle. Sure, that’s great and all, but I’ve heard that one before. On the other hand, they threw around the idea of the potential of a campus that has sufficient on-site opportunities for its students while also being located near a major city. That’s very tempting and requires some thought on my part, and I’d appreciate any thoughts you may have.

I honestly don’t know what to make of it. I liked Tufts, can picture myself there, and have been given a stellar financial aid package. I’m going to take a few days to let the reality distortion field wear off and try some level-headed decision making.

Of course, I’ll post that analysis here. In the meantime, I hope you’ll pardon my grammar and flawed thought processes in this post. I’m exhausted and need to get some sleep. I’ll be sure to come back and clear up this post tomorrow, but I wanted to get some content out to you all as soon as possible.

Two days later, update: The grammar wasn’t all that bad. Nice.

Due to circumstances I can’t control, my venture to Tufts will happen Wednesday-Thursday rather than Tuesday-Wednesday.

That is all.

I’ll be paying Tufts a visit this Tuesday. If all goes well, my family and I will find a hotel in the area and leave the Boston area on Wednesday.

If anyone wants to meet for lunch, let me know!

Read on to see the comments and my responses.

A Dover Dilemma

Christopher S. Penn wrote:

Who needs motivational speakers? Yeah, they’re nice, but chances are students probably miss the message anyway. Take the money, some money, and throw out a challenge to your student body – make a 3 minute motivational video on the topic of your choice – college is in your reach, live outside your comfort zone, etc. – and upload it to YouTube. The video that gets the most views wins a small scholarship or something.

Motivation only works if someone WANTS to be motivated. It’s like sales. If someone wants to buy, selling is easy. Convincing them that they want to buy if they in fact do not? Difficult. One of the sales tricks is to get someone to sell an item to themselves.

Get your students to sell themselves on motivation.

I completely agree. Then again, I get all the motivation I need from TED talks and great blogs!

I’d love to throw something like the YouTube contest you mentioned, but that would create havoc in a high school that doesn’t offer a basic computer class to students.

Unfortunately, I don’t think people around here want to be motivated. I’ll keep trying, though. Going to have to innovate on this one.

Kim wrote:

I’m proud of you for being so forward-thinking and standing up for yourself and the Student Council. It’s a really intelligent and mature decision. I’m very disappointed in DHS. I agree that not having a speaker is not the biggest tragedy; I couldn’t tell you who came to the school the past two years, let alone what they said.

But hm…I wonder, do you think you could find someone local to make a speech? Like a community member, who would maybe do it for free or at least a lot less than a professional speaker?

Or just do it yourself. I’m sure there are a lot of kids at that school who could do with following your example.

Thanks, Kim! Although I’ve made the call to not purchase the services of a speaker, the entire Student Council has a say in what we do with the assembly. I’m thinking about taking your advice about finding some local talent to speak in place of a hired hand. I can think of a few teachers and members of the community who may be able to pull us through. I’ll keep thinking of ideas in hopes of finding something innovative.

In terms of doing it myself – the Student Council President gives opening remarks at assemblies such as this. I’m considering expanding my opening remarks into a speech on the subject of the degradation of Dover High School. I have little to lose.

Chris wrote:

I’m really sorry to hear that your highschool is falling apart, too. Not only has Carmel Highschool had greater numbers of more severe fights this year than others, but crime in my town is ridiculous as well. Thieves smashing car windows to steal iPods and anything else that isn’t attached to the frame, psychopathic genitalia mutilating murderous wives, drug addicts sticking up Rite-Aid with shotguns, and two bank robberies in the past 30 days or so. What’s going on?

Holy crap! That’s crazy. Dover hasn’t quite gotten that bad. Our problems relate to an inability to punish people who cause serious trouble while simultaneously clamping down on more benign students.

Anonymous wrote:

Listen Rick… Everyone knows why our school is out of control… The reason starts with the new Administration/Dictatorship… As much as everyone hated Mr. Tierney for his “lack” of discipline look at the difference in our school from last year to this year… The way I see it is that a certain administrator feels the need to increase discipline which is just making the students rebel… I’m a senior and for the past 3 years, for the most part, I looked forward to going to school monday to friday… It was a very comfortable place to learn and hang out… This year however one can feel the sense of change in the school… Someone’s on a BIGGGGG power trip and it needs to stop… Last year I could walk the hallway without being badgered about every little thing but today I walk the hallway and I wonder what exactly am I doing wrong now?… Will I get suspended for walking on the wrong side of the hallway? Or God forbid a student goes to the bathroom… the teachers have to inform the office a student has left the classroom? And most recently students are no longer allowed into the attendance office… How about we just let Jackie into the office in the morning lock the door and not let her out until schools over? Because it’s obvious too many kids enjoy her personality and want to stop IN and say hello… DOVER DAY CARE IS BACK IN SERIVICE… ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?… The school needs to start treating students like high schoolers and less like kindergarteners… Last year, with a few exceptions, the highschoolers were treated, and acted like, high schoolers… Now this year rolls around and all of a sudden I feel like I’m back in daycare and these “high schoolers” are behaving like theyre preschoolers… Please tell me that its not on the “Administration” and its ALL on the students as many were originally so quick to say… Now it seems more people seem to be leaning in my direction… I feel sorry for the teachers who I have talked to me and have said in-directly whos fault it is… My heart especially goes out to our schools beloved hall monitors who obviously cannot stand they way things are being run in our school… Ricky I know youre smart.. How do you feel about this?… Here’s my final statement.. Our new principal is not fit to be a principal.. School is supposed to be a learning caring learning evniornment… I feel like I’m stuck in a Maximum Security prison… Dover High School is on lockdown… Changes start from the top… Lead by example… Something our school is lacking this year

I hear ya, bro/sis.

I’d rather not call out any individuals and place blame. I’m hoping that the situation is still salvageable.

US News and World Report, Media Literacy and Social Media

Edvisors Online Education wrote:

Very thoughtful and intelligent response. It would be fun to turn the table on Kimberly Palmer (the author of the USNews article) and ask her to justify the fact that her article is sponsored by several student loan companies (via Google Adwords).

I work with Chris Penn and we are all very proud of the work we do. We have a clear mission of “providing a richer, more fulfilling education experience to students, educators and parents worldwide”. We do this by providing a wide range of educational resources, including the Financial Aid Podcast. Believe me, it is not inexpensive to do this as the article implies – it is a lot of work. However, it is worth it as it build good will, helps students further their education, and yes, generates customers who appreciate the added value we can offer.

Good luck in school. We don’t need you to take a loan out with us – there are millions of student who we can serve. But definitely – keep talking about us!!!

Keep putting out compelling content and I’ll keep talking about you. It’s how Internet Karma works.

Chris wrote:

I don’t like how the article associated the Student Loan Network with deceptive marketing. As I don’t find the tactics of th SLN to be deceptive, the article’s insinuation is in itself a little sneaky. But I’m also not sure if we should be bashing the article that hard. Ignorance, especially in the context of loans, is extremely dangerous and terribly volatile. Look at the housing crisis. The clusterfuch of the loan market led to quite a lot of action on the part of the Federal Reserve to fix it, and the market’s collapse led to a dive in the dollar. The article is right about one thing. If you’re taking out a loan, you need to know everything about anything you’re agreeing to. I think it’s perfectly justifiable to call attention to this fact in the manner they did, although I would have chosen different examples.

The association of the Student Loan Network with deceptive marketing obviously angered me, too. The article took my happy story and spun it into an attempt to pray on a desperate student.

You’re absolutely right about ignorance concerning loans. In fact, that’s one of the things I spoke about in my interview. I criticized those television ads that go, “Get $40,000 right now!” for their lack of disclosure and tendency to lead student to over-borrow.

Your stance is more neutral and unbiased, and thus, less passionate. I’m too personally involved to take a stance that composed. I still maintain, though, that the root of the problem is basic media literacy and that deceptive marketing is only a secondary concern.

…

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone! Although I can’t change anything about the US News and World Report article, I think I can still effect some change in Dover before I leave for college. At least, I’ll give it a shot.

By the way, let me know if you think a larger feedback-addressing post like this is a good thing every once in a while.