From December 1st -8th you can vote on Facebook at www.votelgr.org EVERY DAY, and Chase customers can vote once on Chase.com. The non-profit that receives the most votes will win the 1 million dollars!

Please, we need your support. WilsonDailyPrep provides Let’s Get Ready students with online tutoring and the opportunity to receive a $100 graphing calculator to be used on an upcoming SAT as well as in college, helping make a huge difference in their test scores and future college success. However, in order for Let’s Get Ready to continue its invaluable work with disadvantaged students, we need you to vote this week! Voting at www.votelgr.org (can be daily up to December 8th) will make a significant difference in a student’s life.

And, please spread the word: we can all support deserving students as they reach for their college dreams. Additional information about Let’s Get Ready and how to get involved in the Chase American Giving competition can be found here: http://www.letsgetready.org/. Also, learn more about WilsonDailyPrep’s non-profit organization, Graph It Forward Today at www.graphitforwardtoday.org.

*Let’s Get Ready is an innovative, grassroots college access program started in 1998 on the premise that dedicated college students can coach, tutor, and mentor aspiring high school students on the SAT and college admissions process. Since 1998, the program has grown throughout the Northeast and has impacted over 12,000 students using over 5,000 college student volunteers.

You have decided to enroll in an SAT/ACT Prep course and you are ready to begin… now what? How do you choose a program that is right for you? What types of programs are best? Should you do in-classroom study, online coursework or both?

In my experience, students benefit from in-person coursework, coupled with online practice programs. One enhances and reinforces the other. However, if you can only do one or the other that is okay too – just as long as you do something. Preparatory courses are critical to SAT/ACT success.

For onsite coursework, first, choose a program that provides full practice exams under timed conditions. The more realistic the practice is to the actual exam, the more at ease and prepared you will be when the time actually comes. Next, you want engaging, experienced tutors that have many tricks and strategies up their sleeves. Young and energetic may seem good, but young often denotes a lack of experience. Look for programs that offer qualified tutors (with many years under their belt) and that offer separate teachers for both the math and verbal portions of the tests. You want instructors who are experts in his/her field –not all fields. The more specific the expertise, the better!

As far as frequency goes, I advise you find a course structured to 2-3 hours per week – with a minimum of 8 to 10 weeks lead-time. With the WilsonDailyPrep program, our students spend three full months preparing – with very positive results.

For online courses, I recommend my WDP program because we hold students accountable. Yes, our program takes only 6 minutes a day and this may not seem like enough – but if students are not taking an onsite course in conjunction with our program, we provide EXTRA weekly work and individualized feedback.

Lastly, I do not recommend online courses that fail to provide ACCOUNTABILITY – an actual person guiding the student and making the student complete weekly assignments. I often see students who mean to and want to study, but time slips away! It is very hard to spend the weekend on reading, writing, math, grammar – on top of schoolwork! With our program, you have a personal coach giving you that extra nudge along the way!

On March 31, 2011, a news story was published on the Website Good (www.good.is) titled Three Lessons Education Reformers Should Learn From Michelle Rhee’s Missteps. While I prefer not to comment directly on the controversy surrounding this story, I would like to provide my personal insight, experience and opinion regarding standardized testing in school, SAT/ACT testing for college admissions and measuring the level of teacher effectiveness.

When it comes to standardized testing in schools, I agree that test scores cannot be the bottom line for determining a teacher’s level of effectiveness. In that same vein, SAT and ACT scores should not be the bottom line for getting into college. Coincidently, I say this even though I own a  test prep company!

The bottom line is that some students are just not good test-takers. Thankfully, students need to be well rounded on the college application – test scores, school scores, level of difficulty of classes, community service, etc. The same goes for teacher evaluations (i.e. determining a teacher’s effectiveness) – the methods used should be well rounded and embrace multiple measures of evaluation.

I work in many school districts and I see teachers giving it “their all” – going beyond the call of duty, being creative within the classroom and holding students accountable. Yet, so much relies on parental support and engagement and unfortunately, this aspect of student and teacher success is rarely acknowledged or discussed. If the benefit of education and school is not valued at home, students will not excel within the classroom – making teacher effectiveness look bad. Read: Not the teacher’s fault.

School administration also plays a large part in teacher and student success. I have visited schools where a particular teacher was excellent – engaging, giving feedback, challenging students – yet individual student behaviors brought down the effectiveness within the classroom. Administration failed to back the disciplinary requests or value the teachers input. If administrators are constantly placing the blame on staff, rather than supporting efforts, it makes it very difficult for a teacher to succeed. Some schools also push too many initiatives, without providing teachers enough time to prepare. As soon as one initiative is implemented, another becomes fashionable and the teacher’s success rate is left in the dust, along with the student’s ability to grasp the concepts.

In the end, we do not have just one thing or one method to blame for the current state of education in this country. Just the same, there is not a quick fix or a definitive answer on how to make much needed improvements. We must work together… parents, students, educators and administrators to enhance and supplement each other’s contributions for the greater good of our children.

Fill ‘er Up

Brevity may be the soul of wit, but not when it comes to the SAT essay! You’re given two blank pages and 25 minutes to craft your essay, and studies show that the more you write the higher you score. And I don’t mean the larger you write – suddenly adopting a giant’s penmanship or putting in those lovely curly-q’s won’t score you extra points! But filling both pages fully with concrete details, examples, and analysis will earn you maximum points. Turn to historical or literary examples to help fill out your essay, and don’t be afraid to use current events as well to prove a point or add length to your essay. But beware: You can’t go beyond the two pages, so plan carefully as you go.

*For more information on how to tackle the SAT essay please buy my book, Write the SAT Essay Right. The essay is worth 30% of the writing score!

Weekly Word

Esoteric (adj.): Understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge; belonging to the select few.

Suzy sought the esoteric knowledge held by the Girl Scouts, but wearing the uniform and selling cookies did nothing to bring their ancient secrets to light.

College Spotlight

Florida State

Next week I am taking my children to Florida, so it is only natural that I want to focus on Florida State this week! I really like state schools. They’re public, usually less expensive than their private counterparts, and often more diverse. One problem with them, though, is the campuses are often HUGE! FSU is a little different. Although the college is set on 450 acres, it’s just a ten minute walk from the main gate to either side of campus. Plentiful Florida sunshine, rolling hills, flowering trees and close beaches make FSU more like a vacation spot than a college. However, the school is well rounded academically and has some unique academic opportunities such as living/learning options and a small, attentive honors program. This school is a wonderful option, especially for those looking to get away from their winter blues.

Total Enrollment: 31,944
SAT CR: 550-640/ Math: 560-650
ACT: 24-28

Please share with your student….

This weekend is the ACT. You think you’re ready. You’ve studied well, have your pencils at the ready, and three alarm clocks set just to make sure you don’t oversleep. What could possibly go wrong?

Just to give you an idea, here’s an email that I received from a student after the last ACT:

“Not to be a downer but that last 5 hours of my life honestly belongs in an ACT from hell movie. Besides the proctor actually being moderately illiterate and no clock just a time based off of his watch, a girl got the hiccups for the entire reading section, a janitor vacuumed the hallways, two girls actually had conversations throughout the test, half the room didn’t bring their admission tickets or pencils, and some boy kicked me every 5 minutes. It was definitely quite an experience. But, I did my best…”

This real email should serve as a warning. Not everything is in our control! Whatever you worry about going wrong probably won’t – but chances are, there is plenty that will. So add this tidbit to your test day preparation list: Get ready to roll with the punches, doing your best and never giving up, no matter what fate throws your way. And don’t get discouraged even if the test taker next to you is making awful noises or kicking you – the student who wrote this email actually reached her target score! She handled the distractions with humor and refused to give up the fight. Remember, stay focused, do your best, and don’t panic. If you don’t hit your mark there is always June!

Weekly Word:

Urbane (adj.)  Cosmopolitan; worldly

Suzy’s new friend, a foreign exchange student, was urbane; he had lived in six different countries.

College Spotlight

Barnard

Girls, listen up! Barnard is not just another all-girls school… it’s the all-girls school that Carrie Bradshaw would go to if she could! Now the most popular women’s college in the country, Barnard is a division of Columbia University. It’s a small, rigorous school set on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Barnard is next to Broadway, just blocks from Riverside Drive, and across the street from Columbia, giving students the best of NYC. As if that wasn’t enough, students are offered a wide range of courses and can cross-register at Columbia for more classroom and research options.

Total Enrollment: 2,359

SAT CR:  640-740/   Math: 610-700

ACT:  28-31

While this research may have surprised many, it wasn’t news to us at WilsonDailyPrep. We’ve been witnessing the power of test taking for over a decade now, and this is why our program provides daily SAT and ACT questions designed as short quizzes. The key to success on the SAT and ACT is constructive, regular practice that reinforces test-taking skills and strategies. It is this consistent practice that  helps students internalize questions and see patterns on the day of the exam. By regularly answering questions, students learn to answer questions automatically, without wavering in doubt.

When it comes to standardized tests, the old adage “practice makes perfect” rings especially true. And the way to practice is through constant repetition. Repetitive practice forces students to confront what they may have answered incorrectly, evaluate any gaps in their knowledge, and help them see test patterns.  The new study in the Science journal supports this cognitive learning strategy “I think that learning is all about retrieving, all about reconstructing  our knowledge,” said lead author, Jeffrey Karpicke, an assistant professor of psychology at Purdue University.

But we also need to work within the confines of students’ busy schedules, which often include long hours of homework, demanding sport practice, and volunteer work. The WilsonDailyPrep method gives students daily practice opportunities that fit into their hectic lives. Our six daily questions, which cover vocabulary, sentence completion, math, reading comprehension, and grammar, let students study on their own schedule – whether it’s 5 minutes in the morning while waiting for the bus or during a free period at school. However, they are not truly “studying.” Instead, students take a daily, short quiz  of 6 questions  that teaches students how to actively choose the correct answer on a standardized test. Daily quizzing is effective because by remembering information repeatedly we are organizing it and creating cues and connections that our brains later recognize.

Superstar athletes like Andre Agassi and Michael Jordan tell stories of drilling day after day with thousands of practice balls, on the most minor of moves. This is how athletes quiz themselves – and it’s how they succeed. Students who want to succeed on the SAT or ACT must follow their lead. Taking long, tedious tests, though, is not the answer, and the study in the Journal proves that cramming for an exam is not as effective as long-term daily drilling that fits seamlessly into a student’s day.

School districts that embrace more active approaches to learning , emphasizing reasoning over memorization embrace the WilsonDailyPrep because our short, daily quizzes reinforce cognitive, core skill building that allows for a continuum of learning both in and outside of the classroom and allows the teacher to focus on the more active components of learning. Teachers are freed to teach a concept and then move on, while WilsonDailyPrep provides the systematic drilling necessary for retention and skill building success.

As this new research proves, cramming before the SAT or ACT is ineffectual. To really make a difference – a difference that could mean getting into the college of one’s dreams – a student needs to be an athlete and commit to regular, daily practice. Our test prep method makes daily practice easy, accessible, and worth it.

When it comes to writing, I’m obsessed with structure. I make sure verbs, nouns, and prepositions are all where they are supposed to be. In my business, there is a right answer and a wrong answer, college acceptance or rejection. There’s not much in between. Sometimes I find that I forget what it is like to read something that is about more than just getting to the answer…and then I stumble upon something that makes me remember.

Recently, I read an op-ed piece titled “Change or Perish,” by Roger Cohen in the New York Times. At first, my eyes skimmed over the article, trained as they are to look for a conclusion or a body paragraph. But this beautifully-written piece reads much more like a poem.

The article focuses on pop culture, and how technology has changed our lives. Now, my students out there don’t remember the time “before tweets” and when “bars were for boozing” as opposed to cell phone reception, but I know you parents remember it well. At the end of each paragraph there is a single line: “we managed just the same.” As in, we were fine before these “advances” came along, and that we never went without.

Towards the middle of the article you can tell Cohen begins to question his own statement, asking himself, “Did we really and honestly get by all the same?” He confronts his doubts by referencing a famous Marx quote, “The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production … and with them the whole relations of society.”

I do not consider myself particularly philosophical by nature, but change is something that any adult – and especially parents – can’t help but reflect upon. Cohen quotes Marx to underline the significance of the technological changes we are making and how these changes have become part of the fabric of our lives.

Perhaps these changes are necessary, not so much for our own convenience, but to push forward the productivity of mankind. Let’s bring it back to my favorite topic (the SAT and ACT, of course!). If students didn’t have to worry about these tests, would they become stagnant? Are these tests another obstacle to struggle over, another step in life that brings them to the next stage? After all, these tests are the first steps in a process that leads students away from the comforts of home and to a greater independence. These tests put children on the path to adulthood. And while change may be hard – especially for us parents – it’s necessary and ultimately good. As Cohen shows, just look at how far change has brought us.

So back to the SAT and ACT. (I told you, it’s my favorite subject!) These standardized tests haven’t changed in over 50 years. (A few years ago it seemed like we were experiencing change when the SAT moved from 1600 to 2400, but it really was just a basic reorganization of the test, joining the SAT II grammar to the existing 1600 test.)Perhaps we should take Cohen’s words to heart, and consider changing these exams to better fit today’s educational needs and concerns. Education is at the forefront of discussion within our country now, as parents and educators call for reform. Perhaps the SAT and ACT should become part of this discussion, and perhaps the SAT and ACT can be modernized. I, for one, would be very excited about the prospect. And I think Cohen would agree.

To the distress of many students, vocabulary is an integral part of the SAT reading component (both sentence completion and reading comprehension questions). Therefore, studying vocabulary must become an integral part of every SAT-taker’s life.

Now, I don’t know the ins and outs of my students’ lives. I don’t know when they have sports, when they have time to do homework, or how they balance their social engagements with academic responsibilities. But I do know this – each and every student uses the bathroom – more than once – each and every day. Therefore, I promote multi- tasking. Study vocabulary in the bathroom! The bathroom is a place without distraction, and also a great place to focus for a mere five to ten minutes.

Is it vulgar? Slightly. Is it effective? Absolutely.
All vocabulary words should be put on index cards, and thrown into a big shoebox (Girls, a sneaker box, not a strappy-heel box!) This way, the index cards are loosely contained, and constantly mixed up. This shoebox belongs in the bathroom by the toilet! So whenever we use the bathroom, we should be studying our vocabulary.

Exercise of the Week

Complete the following matching quiz. Test your potty language!

Word Bank: ebullient, ethereal, exculpate, fulsome, sagacious

1. Although new to the office, Jane quickly became known for her energy, infectious cheer,
and otherwise _________ nature.

2. Everyone assumed the man was a thief, but the jury was quick to_________ him when the
police confirmed his alibi.

3. When the _________ monarch was replaced by his ignorant son, the kingdom’s problems
multiplied.

4.The pragmatist quickly dismissed her brother’s lofty hopes as _________.

5. The CEO did not want ___________advisors to agree with every point he made; he wanted
aids who challenge him to think through things in a more complex way.

Answers: 1.ebullient  2.exculpate  3.sagacious 4.ethereal  5.fulsome

Vocabulary

Prudent – (adj.) wise in handling practical matters

Sagacious Suzy realized it was prudent to study vocabulary words in the bathroom.

COLLEGE SPOTLIGHT

Northeastern University – Boston, MA

Northeastern has become best known for its preprofessional education, which includes a one year “co-op” job or internship. As a five year undergraduate education, students generally spend one year working at a major-related internship, gaining experience and insight into their chosen field.

Enrollment: 21,324
SAT: 580-660 verbal, 610-690 math
ACT: 26-30
Strongest Programs: Engineering, Business, Computer Science, and Psychology

As with any business, WilsonDailyPrep is always conscious of keeping the office clean. With sniffling students bustling in and out, hand sanitizer becomes the office companion. Except for me. I mean to use more hand sanitizer, I really do! But a recent New York Times article, “How Not to Fight Colds,” by Jennifer Ackerman caused me to feel a little better about my bad behavior.

The article introduces the kind of person everyone knows: the never sick friend or relative. I have to admit that I am one of those people.  I have no explanation!  I do not sleep more than 5 hours per night; I have over 200 kids coming through my office weekly, and I do like to cuddle with my always sick 8 year old. Yet, I have not had a serious cold in over two years.  My husband, on the other hand, drinks a “therma-flu” concoction every morning with his coffee, uses hand-sanitizer obsessively, and fills up on vitamins daily.   And, he gets at least three serious colds per winter! Why does this happen? Why am I like Teflon woman?

Interestingly enough, according to the article, healthy people (not me) do have super-powered immune systems, but it is these healthy immune
systems that can be causing them to feel sick! According to the article, recent scientific experiments show that the symptoms associated with the common cold are really the healthy body’s fight against the cold virus.  The more severe the cold, the harder one’s immune system works.   The runny nose and watery eyes are the signs that the healthy immune system is hard at work.   The cold, itself, does not produce the annoying, sickly feeling; it is the immune system fighting the cold that sends you to bed with a tissue box!

Then the article references people like me.   The people like me who do not get sick.   Jennifer Ackerman suggests that people who do not show serious symptoms of a cold might not be producing the normal amount of inflammatory agents.  Since we are not fighting off the cold, we don’t exhibit the cold symptoms.   As I read this article, though, I wondered where this virus afflicting me goes, and how I get rid of it if my unhealthy immune system is not putting up a fight! Yet, if we listen to Jennifer Ackerman, perhaps we should shrug immune system aids off and just say “no.”   According to Ms. Ackerman, there is no need to go crazy trying to build a superhuman immune system.   Instead, your body might actually show fewer symptoms if we don’t boost.

“What does this scientific data have to do with standardized testing?”, you may ask.  Your child’s health plays a key role in his/her test
results- it is hard to do your best if you are sneezing and coughing throughout the test!  This is why it is so important to take the ACT or SAT numerous times, as it is difficult to predict a child’s health in October when signing up for a January test date.  The
health of others in the testing room affects your child as well.  What if the kid next to yours is hacking up a lung or sniffling the entire time?   How will your child be able to focus?   Luck plays a significant role in test scores.   Yes, studying is essential, but a lot is out of one’s control.   We don’t like being out of control, and this is one of the reasons we find colds so frustrating.

So I don’t know what to recommend.   Do we give up on boosting ourselves and our children this winter?   Do we allow ourselves to be “out of control?” As Ackerman states, “It seems counterintuitive, but there it is:  People with more active immune systems may be especially prone to cold symptoms. So getting a cold may be a positive sign that your biochemical defenses are working normally – a glass-half full view of getting the sniffles.”  Yes, maybe we should listen  to Ackerman and let our children be a little “unhealthy.”  Then again, don’t blame me when your child comes down with a cold because you did not greet him or her at the door with that hand sanitizer!   I do know, though, that you can control what to bring to the SAT test site – tissues for the sniffling student next to yours.

TIP of the Week:

INDULGE YOUR SWEET TOOTH!

Sitting through a long exam such as the SAT or ACT can wear on a child’s attention span. Even the most prepared student can start to feel a bit “foggy.”

But despite the popularity of energy drinks such as Redbull, this is not the answer during a long test. The energy jolt will cause a crash and your child will likely spend more time running to the bathroom than answering questions.

Help out your child by supplying hard candy for him/her to suck during the exam, especially during those long reading passages. Studies show that sucking hard candy during a test increases scores by giving the mouth a taste sensation that “wakes” the brain during extended concentration.

Hard candies also serve as great timing tools for the ACT. By the time your child finishes with one candy, he or she should be just about done with one reading passage. Of course this is approximate, but since many students waste a great deal of time looking at the clock, this can certainly help.

Let your child indulge. Help keep the juices flowing with a burst of flavor that will keep his or her brain from losing steam early into the exam. However, in terms of candy choice, we do not recommend those little caramels that have a tendency to become stuck in between teeth. Although not scientifically proven, we are sure that panicking that one might never be able to open one’s mouth again does NOT increase concentration.

Another important tip: unwrap the sucking candy BEFORE your child leaves for the exam. Put hygiene aside and have your child place the candies in his or her pocket, as some proctors might not allow the crinkling distraction.

Contest of the Week:

Share this “sweet tooth” tip with your child, and then have him or her write us an email dictacting his or her favorite sucking candy and why. The WilsonDailyPrep staff will pick a winner and provide him or her with a months supply of that candy. It’s our way of getting geared up for testing and giving a candy appetizer before Halloween!

We will be announcing the winner in our next newsletter.

Email: info@wilsonprep.com

WEEKLY WORD:

Voracious (adj):
Wanting or devouring great quantities of food

On his date with Suzy, Johnny voraciously ate both of his hamburgers and his plate of fries; he then gazed longingly at Suzy’s plate until she offered a sample.

COLLEGE SPOTLIGHT

Knox College: Galesburg, IL

Like comic books, fan fiction, anime? Knox is embraced as a “geek haven,” by current students. Knox also has a long history of campus-wide traditions such as mud jumping and shaking hands with…everyone. Knox was the first in the nation to admit African Americans and women.  Knox offers a strong writing program and exceptional sciences. It is more mainstream than Beloit and Grinnelll.

Enrollment:  1379
SAT: 590-700 verbal,  580-660 math
ACT: 26-31
Strongest Programs:  Biology, Creative Writing, Music, Math, Political Science, Psychology

IMPORTANT DATES

Next SAT Date:
December 4th
Registration Deadline:
November 5th

Next ACT Date ec 11th
Registration Deadline:
November 5th