Test Prep

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Little Known Facts about Florida Bright Futures

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

Here’s a quick true or false quiz for you about Florida Bright Futures….

  1. Bright Futures covers either 75% or 100% of tuition.
  2. Bright Futures covers room and board.
  3. Tuition is the biggest portion of paying for a public university in Florida.

The correct answers are:

  1. True, Bright Futures covers tuition.
  2. False, Bright Futures does NOT cover room and board.
  3. False, tuition is about 25% of the cost of attending a public university in Florida. Looking at my son’s bills (which are very confusing), it breaks down about like this: Housing 40%, Meals 30%, Tuition 25% and Fees 5%.

Bright Futures is Nice, but Benacquisto is Amazing

There’s actually something even better that most families don’t know about, until it is too late.

What is the Benacquisto Scholarship?

The Benacquisto Scholarship covers EVERYTHING for Florida students attending a public Florida university. My son qualified for it, and we literally pay nothing for him to go to school. In fact, he even gets cash back each semester. Currently, USF even pays him an additional $5,000/year and covers one year of post-graduate tuition. This far exceeded our expectations when we were studying together for the PSAT. We always thought Benacquisto was a minor upgrade on Bright Futures, but now that I’ve seen the full breakdown of the costs of college, and what Bright Futures does NOT pay, I can see the extra effort to earn this scholarship saved our family an additional $50,000, and earned him $50,000.

How does a student earn a Benacquisto Scholarship?

The Benacquisto Scholarship is only for Florida students that are National Merit Scholars. Only 1% of students qualify to be National Merit Scholars (“NMS”), so it isn’t easy, but it is worth it! First of all, to qualify as a NMS, students must score extremely high on the PSAT in the fall (October) of their junior year. So, for this reason, I’ve started recommending SAT (or really PSAT) prep to highly motivated sophomores, especially over the summer before their junior year. Please note that NMS scoring is currently calculated using 1/3 math and 2/3 English, so make sure you study especially hard for the English portion.

Dartmouth Reinstates SAT/ACT Requirement

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

In a move that is as surprising as the sun rising in the morning, Dartmouth has joined MIT and has decided to reinstate the requirement that applicants submit SAT or ACT scores for admission. https://www.npr.org/2024/02/05/1229223433/sat-act-diversity-dartmouth-college-admissions

The pendulum of the test optional farce is finally starting to swing back in the direction of common sense as schools are seeing that accepting students solely on (inflated) grades and unquantifiable holistic measures isn’t helping them correctly identify the most qualified students.

Test Optional – Just Plain Foolish

I’ve always likened test optional admissions as being akin to picking a basketball team without asking the players their height. It’s absurd. After over 10,000 sessions in the past five years, I can tell you, these tests are EXTREMELY ACCURATE at showing who does, and who doesn’t know what they are doing. When a student doesn’t submit their score, they are simply saying, “I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

Test Optional – Falsifies Selectivity

The test optional system has allowed selective colleges to select inferior candidates (perhaps based on ability to pay full tuition, connections, etc…), while appearing more selective than ever by increasing application counts, decreasing admission rates, all while not exposing their true (lower) SAT range.

Test Optional – Helps Inferior Schools Stay Solvent

Inferior schools (essentially daycare centers for young adults) benefit from test optional policies as well. With birth rates declining, most inferior schools see the writing on the wall, and are worried about staying solvent. They will accept anyone who will help them pay to keep the lights on. By accepting students without test scores, it allows them to report only the scores of their few qualified students, and secretly serve as daycare centers for students that learned nearly nothing in high school. Now, the standardized tests are based on a curve, so even the most unprepared students all get about the same score (around 950 on the SAT), so everyone thinks, “At least they know something!” But, that’s not really the case either, these students are simply equivalent to their peers that know nothing. These schools will remain test optional forever, because they are primarily “high school optional” schools anyway.

The Momentum is Changing (Thankfully)

I’m so glad to see that the momentum is changing on this ridiculous scam, and I look forward to the improved transparency that requiring test scores will bring to the incredibly opaque admissions process. If your child’s school is not requiring test scores, I would be gravely concerned about the rigor of the school and the qualifications of the students attending it.

The Hardest Digital SAT Problems – SOLVED!

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

I have released a series of YouTube videos where I solve the hardest digital SAT practice problems. The extensive series goes into great detail to teach the skills, strategies, and concepts to help students succeed on even the hardest digital SAT math questions.

Check out the first video in my YouTube series!

Transformative Tutoring is LIVE on YouTube!

Featured by Kennon McCaa

There are three series available! Check them all out, and subscribe to my channel to watch all the new videos that will be created over the coming months! My SAT prep videos are a great option for students that can’t fit into my calendar, or are too busy to get a regular appointment. I hold nothing back in these SAT prep videos, and I even include a few jokes.

MIT Brings Back the SAT for Class of 2023

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

Below is a great article by MIT admissions, stating why they are reinstating their requirement of the SAT or ACT for the graduating class of 2023. I have seen time and time again the value of these tests in determining who is REALLY prepared for college, and I have no doubt in their validity and value. MIT’s decision just reaffirms what I have believed, and believe more strongly than ever; these tests are very important in determining who is, and who isn’t ready for college.

We are reinstating our SAT/ACT requirement for future admissions cycles

Duke TIP Talent Search Discontinues Use of SAT/ACT

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

It looks like there will not be any on-campus summer programs in 2021 and will no longer use the SAT or ACT to identify new students. I’ve added bold to the most important parts.

On October 9th, 2020 Duke TIP sent the following email:

Dear Members of the TIP Community,

COVID-19 has disrupted every part of our lives, from our health and education to our mobility and our livelihoods. Nothing has been untouched, and we have all had to make difficult and painful choices.

Today, we are writing to inform you about one of those difficult choices that Duke has had to make. The pandemic-induced closure of Duke TIP’s Summer Studies residential programs on our main campus in Durham and at colleges across the country in 2020 and likely again in 2021 has fundamentally disrupted the business and financial models that have long supported the TIP organization.

At the same time, the pandemic has also led Duke to accelerate a review of all precollege academic programs. A key strength of Duke has been its ongoing ability and willingness to innovate. The pause in operations across a range of precollege academic programs has given us an opportunity to step back and assess how best to serve students in a post-pandemic world. Based on this review, Duke will be creating a new unit in the Office of Academic Affairs to better align the existing important and diverse precollege activities with Duke’s current educational priorities and operational practices. Students served by Duke TIP will be a principal focus of this unit, which will oversee all our precollege programs and ensure they meet the highest standards of quality, reflect the best practices in education and are tightly linked with Duke’s extraordinary academic community.

As a result of this change, Duke TIP will not be offering programming (including the Academic Talent Search) for the remainder of 2020 through spring 2021 as we go through this transition and re-envision how to best serve all precollege learners. We look forward to resuming our activities next summer with a new and exciting slate of online courses on a wide range of topics—including artificial intelligence, coding, financial markets and pandemics, among others—taught by Duke faculty and graduate students and using the latest innovations in online education. As we redesign our precollege and talented offerings, we will not resume the talent search with above-level testing, but will instead be looking at new ways to identify students and facilitate their access to these enrichment programs. We will continue to work with families who participated in prior talent searches to provide the promised programs, research, and resources, which will remain available at https://tip.duke.edu.

We know that the suspension of Summer Studies and Talent Search will come as a disappointment to you, and it is a disappointment to us as well because we know how valued it has been by generations of TIPsters. But we are equally excited about the opportunity to update and modernize our programming, and to build on the innovative, enriching and challenging educational experiences that have made TIP such a transformative resource for more than three million students over the past 40 years. We will provide more information on this transition in the weeks ahead, as well as opportunities for students, parents and alumni to remain engaged.

Thank you for your continued support of Duke University.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Francis

Executive Vice Provost

Finally, a Summer SAT!

Posted on by Kennon McCaa

I have long wished that there was an SAT during the summer, and finally (thanks to a global pandemic) my prayers have been answered! No, the SAT didn’t add a new summer test (the August 29, 2020 date is unchanged), but the Sarasota County School’s delayed opening means that the SAT will occur during summer vacation.

A Rare Opportunity

Having the chance to study for the SAT without having to attend school all day is perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity, so take advantage of this opportunity to study harder than you ever could before. See our 21 day SAT practice schedule and get started with your tutoring immediately.

Challenges to Overcome

Hibernating Brain Syndrome

Although not a real medical diagnosis, I think it accurately describes what has happened to most students. So, although students can study more than ever for this SAT, they probably haven’t done much academic work since March. Their brains may be empty and they certainly aren’t used to 4 straight hours of use (excluding video games). So, it is time to start using that brain every day! The best way to do that is to start doing a practice test every day.

Hibernating Kid Syndrome

Not only have most kids not been using their brains, but they have been staying up late, waking up really late and perhaps never leaving their room (other than when the router needs to be reset). So, it is time to start getting back on a school schedule. SAT registration closes at 8 AM, so you have to be on site and ready to check-in by 8 AM! When was the last time your child had a healthy breakfast, a shower and was wearing something other than pajamas by 8 AM? If they can pull off that amazing feat, they need to be mentally ready to take the test. Nobody has done that since March!!

Suggestions for Success

Fix the Alarm Clock

Start waking up 30 minutes earlier every day until you are waking up early enough to be ready to take the 8 AM test. Hopefully, the entire week leading up to the test the student will be on an optimal testing sleep schedule.

Get to Bed on Time

If a student is going to be ready to take an 8 AM test, they need to start getting to bed by 10 PM. Make sure their phones shut off automatically at 9 PM. This will allow them to do some last minute, pre-sleep practice to transform their brain into a 24/7 math problem solving machine.

21 Day SAT Practice Test & Tutoring Schedule

The entire test has four sections and lasts 3 hours. When was the last time your child studied for 3 straight hours. I have devised a 21 day SAT practice schedule to help them build up to at least doing the 80 minutes of math.

Fresh Air and Exercise

With the COVID quarantine, most people have spent too much time indoors and may have stopped exercising. Studies have shown that enjoying the outdoors and exercising have countless benefits including improved learning, reduced stress and improved mental functioning and focus.

Study Buddy

They say “Misery loves company,” so find a study buddy. Usually one or many of your friends will be taking the test on the same day. Why not do some studying together? Complete your practice tests separately and then check your answers together. You will definitely learn something unexpected and you might have some fun in the process. There’s nothing that can compare to having a highly skilled tutor to help you, but working with a trusted friend can help you both stay on schedule and they say the best way to learn something is to explain it to someone else. Give it a try…

Really Rusty? Narrow Your Focus

Almost every serious student takes the SAT more than once and usually improves on the second test. If you haven’t used your brain for six months, it might be unrealistic to expect a great score on all four sections. If your brain just isn’t at full strength yet, perhaps you should focus on getting a really good math score this test and then focus on the English portion of the test next time. This might mean that you barely study the English sections and give minimal effort on the English sections (1 & 2) on test day. Don’t wear your brain out on something you haven’t studied. Stay fresh for the math sections (3 & 4).