Applying early to a college isn’t a simple decision. Whether your first-choice school offers early action or early decision, you may not want to hear the verdict on your application as early as December. Being denied admission to any school that early in your senior year can be demoralizing.

It’s true that applying early can give you a slight edge on the competition. Schools want to ensure that a certain number of admitted students will be filling their freshman class (and meeting or exceeding their admissions standards). If your first-choice school is well within your reach, it may impress the admissions committee that you are devoted enough to attend when higher-ranking institutions might accept you.

Consider applying early decision if:

1. You have a top-choice school.

2. You have thoroughly researched – and visited! – your top choice to determine whether it is right for you.

3. Financial aid isn’t a factor in whether you would attend.

4. Having any kind of answer early in your senior year would relieve some of the strain on your application process.

5. You would not benefit from having the college see your senior fall grades. (If you were rapidly improving in school, it might help you to wait.)

6. Your SAT scores are within the college’s acceptance range, and you do not plan on retaking the SAT.

If you can honestly answer “yes” to all of these, then applying early decision may be right for you.

Top Test Prep offers admissions counseling to help you manage your application process.

Contact Top Test Prep for help with your college admissions applications, (800) 501-PREP or go to our contact form.

This article is on tips for applying early decision.

Tags: College Applications, College Counseling, Colleges, admissions consulting // Add Comment »

There are two ways to approach writing a college admissions essay: finding a unique subject, or finding a unique angle on a familiar subject. In addition to displaying your writing abilities, a college admissions essay helps round out your character to an admissions committee. It reveals – or is intended to reveal – who you are. Try not to be intimidated when a college gives you the freedom to choose any topic. Once you have a list of possible topics, trust that a unique angle – in other words, your honest perspective – can make almost any subject interesting, even if it’s something the college has heard about many times before.

First, ask yourself if you’ve had any outstanding experiences – a moment in time, a vacation spent volunteering, sports camp, or a semester abroad. “Outstanding” doesn’t have to mean exotic. It can be an experience that meant something to you – whether it made you sad, made you grateful, or challenged you in a particular area. Maybe it was the three months you spent on crutches sporting a giant plastic boot. Or maybe it was the week you helped your parents make all the traditional Thanksgiving foods from scratch.

If your outstanding experience took place over a significant span of time, consider narrowing in on a particular moment that is especially representative. A single moment or anecdote can jump-start your essay, leading into a broader admissions essay theme.

Stories are fascinating. I will always recommend working a narrative element into your college admissions essay, whether it’s starting out with a story, working some background and some analysis into the middle, and finishing the essay with how the story ended.

Ensure that your admissions essay appears polished by 1) giving it a title and 2) making absolutely sure that there are no grammatical errors or misspellings. Enlist an editor you trust to read it over before you submit it.

Top Test Prep offers college admissions counseling, including help with your college admissions essays.

Contact Top Test Prep to get help with your college admissions essays and college admissions counseling by calling (800) 501-7737 or fill out our contact form.

Tags: Admissions Advice, Admissions Counselor, College Applications, College Counseling, admissions consulting, admissions essays // Add Comment »

1. Ask your teachers early.

In the fall of your senior year, your teachers will be flooded with rec requests from your classmates. Get ahead of the rush by asking your teachers in the spring of your junior year. They’ll appreciate having the entire summer to write you a recommendation.

2. Decide which of your teachers – past or present – will represent you in the best light.

Are there certain teachers who have made it clear that they think highly of you? Don’t limit yourself to classes in which you excelled. Someone who taught you in a particularly challenging class and saw your commitment to improvement might write you an even more compelling recommendation than a teacher who saw you begin and end with a solid A. Also consider teachers who have seen you in areas outside the classroom.

3. Only send out a supplementary recommendation if someone other than your teachers can provide unique and meaningful insight into your character.

While sending an extra recommendation from a drama teacher or hockey coach might help round out your character to an admissions committee, do not send an extra recommendation if the college to which you are applying specifically asks you not to do so. And don’t send more than one: it can make you look as if you’re compensating for a less-than-impressive application.

4. Ask your teachers in person.

Don’t send an email, and definitely don’t get your parents involved in requesting recommendations. The request should come from you personally.

5. Don’t expect an automatic “yes.”

Your teacher may have already committed to writing recommendations for others. That, or your teacher knows that he or she wouldn’t write you the best recommendation.

6. Provide your teachers with an outline of the kind of recommendation you are looking for.

Consider your application as a whole and the specific attributes you are trying to emphasize. Ask your teachers to write to these attributes if they can. Provide them with a rough outline of the points you would like them to cover. You are not “ordering” a specific recommendation, but helping your teachers focus on what you most wish to convey to the schools of your choice.

7. Write thank-you notes to the people who took the time to recommend you.

It’s just polite.

___________________________________

To find out more about our admissions counseling or college admissions counseling, call (800) 501-PREP.

Top Test Prep’s tips for getting the best recommendations will hopefully help you when you apply to college. For more information on college admissions counseling, call (800) 501-7737.

Tags: College Counseling // Add Comment »

1. Spot errors by listening for them.

In the error identification section, your goal is to identify grammatical or structural errors in a given sentence. The upside: you don’t need to know how to correct these errors. All you’re required to do is recognize when an underlined portion is wrong, or when there are no errors. Pronounce the sentence in your head and listen for anything that sounds off. If it sounds off, it probably is.

2. Remember that this is a test of written English.

Though tip #1 generally holds true, there are things we can get away with in spoken English that are not appropriate for written English. Some questions will spell out a common mispronunciation – such as “could of” in place of “could have” – that might sound right, but isn’t correct in writing.

3. Watch out for “I” versus “me.”

People often confuse the two, or assume that using “I” is always correct. Not so. Here’s a tip for figuring out which one to use: take out the other person or people, and see how you’d write the sentence if “you” were the only person. For example, if the sentence is : “My parents lent Sarah and I their station wagon,” take out “Sarah” and see how you’d rewrite the sentence if you were the only borrower of the station wagon. You will realize that “I” sounds wrong – that the correct phrasing should be “Sarah and me.”

4. Check for subject/verb agreement.

Ask yourself whether the subject is singular or plural, and whether the correlating verb is conjugated accordingly.

5. Check for verb tense agreement.

Ask yourself, “When did the event described take place?” in order to check that the verb is in the proper tense. If one event in the past happens before another event in the past, the earlier event will require a past participle such as “had talked” or “had eaten.”

6. Be able to recognize sentences that are too “wordy,” expressing an idea in too many words.

One example of wordiness on the SAT may be an adjective that is unnecessarily modified, such as “completely silent” or “very unique.” The words “completely” and “very” are not needed here: you are either silent or not silent; you are either unique or not unique.

7. Keep in mind that the essay portion of the SAT may be compared to your admissions essay.

Admissions officers may compare the two in order to verify that your style and writing level are similar for both essays. In some cases, a good SAT essay may give your application the edge you need to take you from borderline to admitted.

8. On the essay portion of the SAT, aim for clarity and good organization.

Apply all the rules for essay-writing you’ve learned in school. Organization and paragraph-parsing are key. It doesn’t matter what you know in a certain subject area; it matters how well you are able to express your opinion or to relate an experience relevant to the given prompt.

9. Proofread your SAT essay for grammatical errors.

Be as vigilant about checking your own writing for errors as you are on the error-ID portion of the exam. Small errors can add up, lowering your score.

10. Give your SAT essay a title.

It never hurts to title an essay. A title can intrigue your reader and summarize the main theme, giving your essay a feeling of completeness.

___________

Our SAT tutoring and SAT preparation can help you get into top colleges and improve your scores.

Top Test Prep can help you with your SAT writing. Give Top Test Prep a call at (800) 501-Prep.

Tags: SAT Prep, SAT exam, Test Prep // Add Comment »

Whether you’re taking the SAT in December for the first time or the umpteenth, you still have about a month left to prepare. Here are some tips for getting the most out of these remaining few weeks.

1) Go over those vocab flash cards one last time. By now you’ll probably – hopefully – be familiar with them – so familiar, in fact, that it takes you far longer to say the definitions than to remember them. Still, it never hurts to review, review, review, and along the way, to remember all the synonyms surrounding a given word.

2) Go over the toughest practice problems, the ugly ones that really gave you trouble. Get a handle on them. Don’t just understand why you got each one wrong: understand the thought process required for solving it, and seek out other problems like it.

3) Get a good night’s sleep … for the two weeks leading up to the test. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation, even for a single night, can affect your performance on tests for over a week afterward, even if you got enough sleep during the nights in between.

4) On test day, wake up early enough to eat a healthy breakfast. Eat whatever works best for you: something filling and nutritious that sits well and will last you through the test. Eating a special meal can help set the day apart, putting you in the zone and revving you up for the day’s challenges.

5) It’s not too late for private SAT tutoring. You still have a whole month to sit down with an SAT tutor and address your weaknesses. An SAT tutor can help motivate you to study and provide you with tips and assignments that will build your mental endurance and efficiency. You can study alone, or you can study with the guidance of an SAT success story … your choice!

Contact Top Test Prep today for SAT Private Tutoring, or call (800) 501-Prep.

This article is on last minute SAT prep tips.

Tags: Private Tutors, SAT Prep, SAT exam, Test Prep, Tutors, private tutoring // Add Comment »

1) Watch your body language.

Sit in a way that feels comfortable but still shows that you’re taking the situation seriously. Don’t cross your arms or adopt a posture that appears closed. Talking with your hands can seem friendly and enthusiastic, but don’t let it distract from whatever you’re saying.

Give your interviewer a strong handshake, and sustain eye contact during introductions. Remember your interviewer’s name, and don’t be afraid to use it over the course of the interview.

2) Dress professionally.

When it comes to dressing for an interview, it’s better to be too formal than too informal. You might want to choose your clothes ahead of time so it’s one less thing to think about on the day of your interview.

3) Practice ahead of time with a friend.

Think of the questions you may be asked, and ask a friend to put you on the spot. Your friend may come up with some good follow-up questions, depending on your answers.

4) Get feedback.

Ask your friend to tell you honestly how you come across. Your friend may notice things that are simple and easy to adjust, but important in creating a good impression.

5) Lock down your safety schools.

Come prepared to every interview with relevant information about the school to which you’re applying. The interview is a great opportunity to demonstrate sincere interest in a school that may consider you overqualified.

6) Leave a good last impression.

Shake hands with your interviewer and thank him or her when you leave. Be sure to address him or her by name when you say goodbye.

For help with college admissions counseling interviews, contact Top Test Prep today at (800) 501-7737 or fill out our contact form.

Tags: Admissions Advice, Admissions Interviews, admissions consulting // Add Comment »

When you learn about an upcoming test in any subject, it’s smart to tailor your studying strategy to both the individual test and your personal needs. Ask yourself the following questions:

1) What’s the format of the test?

Find out what the questions will be like and how long you’ll have to complete the test. This will guide your studying, as you’ll know how detailed your answers should be.

2) How many days will I need to study?

Estimate how many hours you’ll need to study the material. Then decide how many hours you’d realistically be able to devote to studying each day. You may have to try studying some of it first, and see how it goes for you. Make a study plan, and stick to it.

3) How helpful are study groups to me? What about group study guides?

Your answer may depend on which subject you’re studying for. If you took detailed notes for your History class and did all the readings, it may not be worth your time to contribute to a group study guide that won’t give you much in return. Your time might be better spent reviewing your notes, which you can probably trust to be as comprehensive as the guide your classmates will churn out.

Ask yourself whether you study well in a group setting, or whether it ends up devolving into a social gathering with the odd study question being thrown out there now and then. If studying with others is helpful to you, maybe you need to find the right people – those who can focus, stay on subject, and make the most of the time you have.

4) Have I skipped any homework assignments or readings?

Best to cover these first, instead of remembering that you missed them at the last minute.

5) How will this test affect my grade in the class?

Knowing that a good test score could give your grade a significant boost will help motivate you to study. On the other hand, if you’re doing well in the class, you can reduce stress by seeing which range of grades will help you maintain your overall performance. It’s good to know how the test is weighted, and whether there will be other chances to prove yourself.

Top Test Prep can help you prepare for the next big test.

Contact Top Test Prep today to get more help with your SAT and ACT test preparation.

Tags: Test Prep // Add Comment »

1) Use a dictionary.

No matter what you’re reading, take the time to look up words you don’t know. Not only will this improve your vocabulary (it’s the best way to do so), but it will improve your reading experience. You’ll understand the text better without relying purely on context (or skipping over the phrase with the unfamiliar word).

2) Use a thesaurus.

How many ways can you say “aggressive”? “Belligerent,” “pugnacious,” “combative,” “bellicose” … you get the idea. Memorizing synonyms as a group will help you remember what each word means. For every standard vocabulary word, there are several synonyms that stand a chance of showing up on the test.

3) Read something challenging on a regular basis.

Consider getting a subscription to a respected magazine, something that will catch your interest and stimulate your vocabulary at the same time.

4) Buy SAT flash cards.

Standardized tests tend to recycle vocabulary. Having mastered 100 or more of the most common words on the exam will give you confidence when one or two of those words shows up on your test.

5) Complete practice exams under timed conditions.

Get accustomed to the amount of time you’ll have to complete the test. You’ll get faster, which will give you more time to focus on the tough questions. Study all the words you missed on the practice exams (see number four).

Find a private tutor to help you prepare! (But not too pugnacious.)

To improve your SAT Verbal score, contact Top Test Prep today at (800) 501-Prep or read about our SAT private tutoring.

Tags: SAT Prep, SAT exam, Test Prep // Add Comment »

On what basis do most people choose a college? I’ve heard more than a few students admit to being strongly influenced by the person who gave them a tour of the campus. I can still remember what the cute tour guide at Columbia was wearing the day I visited, and that he was a vegetarian – like me. What do I remember about Stanford, my first choice, and what visions danced in my head when I slaved away at my application? Well, the walkways of course – so wide! – with bicyclists in flip-flops cruising by, and the mild weather, and the arches lining the pavilion next to the English building. As with my search for the right prep school, I was trying to get a “sense” of the place, awaiting a feeling that would guide my decision. Just how I arrived at that “sense” did not, at the time, seem as superficial to me as it does now. I wasn’t alone in my evaluative practices. A friend who graduated from Harvard admits to having had a deterministic crush on his tour guide. Perhaps we arrive with a crush on an entire school, ready to use anything as evidence in its favor. Do students really explore the areas of the college experience that will directly affect them – the social groups and extracurricular settings into which they are most likely to settle?

The Washington Post features an online group discussion on the topic. Apparently, I’m not the only student who’s proved susceptible to the touring experience.

But who’s to say that deciding this way is wrong? If a college clearly has a lot to offer any student who manages to meet its admissions criteria and be accepted, then what’s wrong with picking a place that just “feels” right? Most of us don’t choose a city in which to live according to the amenities or institutes based there. If the city wants us – if we’ve been offered a job there – and if it offers the advantages and excitement of any metropolis, then we’ll probably choose it based on “feel,” which may include the weather, the pace of life, and the people we bump into during a visit. If a studly urbanite happens to step into our subway car, well, we can’t help but be charmed and mark it down as a plus for the experience. Maybe intuition is something to be trusted when choosing a college.

Tags: College Applications, College Counseling, Colleges // Add Comment »