Reply to Dartmouth Announces Test Scores Required Starting Next Year

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My UMC kid said this means she needs to get her 1530 up to 1550.  I don't think so .. do you? [/quote]

No.

It means her 1530 has returned to having value like it did pre-test optional.[/quote]

Also means that the score will be evaluated in context. The "value" will be based on zip code and HS resources.

A low income kid with a 1400 has just a good a chance at Dartmouth as a UMC kid with a 1530.

Are you OK with that?
[/quote]

Our magnate schools provide SAT prep to all students on free lunch level family income but not to muddle class families. Many middle class students can't afford private prep centers, they are at a disadvantage.[/quote]

With diligence, a student can work through many prep materials for the cost of a few paperback books.  The hardest part is figuring out one's own patterns of mistakes.  A college educated adult in the home can provide this assistance.

In our school district, a very minimal level of summer prep class (Khan Academy plus free support from a math teacher to answer questions) was provided to all who registered.

As a taxpayer, if you want your schools to offer SAT prep for all students, you can contact your school board.  If you are polite rather than resentful, they may consider expanding the program.[/quote]

Huge difference between "self prep with books/Khan academy" and SAT private 1-1 tutors.  Someone with time and money (the middle class kid may not have either---as they might be working a PT job, baby-sitting family members, etc) can figure out their pattern of mistakes with one baseline test and 2-4 hours with a private tutor.  My own kid did that, went from 1330 to 1490 with just that.  All future tutoring still landed my kid at/around 1490/1500.  
Had my kid tried to "figure out the tricks/pattern of mistakes" tehmselves, it would have taken much longer.  Instead my kid invested 4 hours for testing and 4 hours for tutoring and they were at their ultimate score 160 points higher.  
But we stopped there, many rich take it further and spend another 20-40 hours to tutoring to get that 1550.  Which we likely could have gotten, with focus on verbal.  We chose not to do it and focus on more important things---like enjoying life and writing the essays.  But we could have spend another $3-4K and lots of time and gotten a much better score.  THat's what the rich do.

So recognize the privilege of not being middle class and how much easier it is to achieve a better score.  [/quote]

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