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Standardized test scores are very important, but they are not the end-all for your admission into college. Schools are looking for versatile, industrious students with a variety of skills and interests. Here’s three ways to make a good impression on your application. High grades in rigorous classes Good test scores show what you’ve learned and that you can perform under pressure, but high and increasing grades in challenging courses demonstrate an ongoing commitment to learning and improvement. Getting a high score on the SAT and ACT does not mean you can now lose focus on your classes. Continue to apply yourself, take honors and AP classes, and do your best. Dedication to activities Your extra-curricular activities are not limited to school-based sports and clubs. Demonstrate that you are committed to a cause, even if that cause is starting a savings account with your earnings from a part-time job. Volunteer work, involvement with a church or other community group, and summer school are all excellent ways to show your interests and character. You don’t have to be a member of every club in town; dedication to one or two causes shows that you’re an involved citizen. Awards and Talents School is a big part of your life, but it doesn’t define you. Your college essay provides the perfect opportunity to detail parts of your life that are totally separate from school. Describe the Awana emblem you’re most proud of, your guitar solo during the the battle of the bands, your prize-winning pies from the county fair—pick something that you’ve accomplished and that makes you happy. Let the admissions office know what you can do with your SAT and ACT scores, but also show them who you are by writing about your interests and talents. 

I want to take a minute to express my thanks to our clients, past and present, for making 2018 such a great year at NewCoda. We are wishing everyone wonderful (and hopefully relaxing) holidays, and we look forward to connecting again in 2019! There are a couple of items I just wanted to lay out, including next steps for juniors and seniors, as well as some exciting news and an interesting partnership: First, I would like to thank the Burlingame/Hillsborough community for granting NewCoda the best of Burlingame 2018 Award for BEST EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT ! We’re so proud to receive the honor and we will continue to serve the community as we have been doing so for the last several years. While not many of us consider going abroad for our undergrad or graduate studies, I recently heard of a growing trend in the college experience of American students. I engaged in a long conversation with Kevin Newton, founder of An Education Abroad. While the majority of the students place in European schools (mainly in the UK), there are a number of schools in other regions of the world, such as New Zealand, Australia, Israel, and South Africa. I duly brought up objections that I thought families would bring up (name value of a foreign university, cost and use of 529 plans, applicable education, etc) and Kevin walked me through each of those misconceptions. In the UK, for example, a student can complete a BA degree in only three years, with comparable cost to three years of private university in the states. Masters programs typically span only one year, and students can begin studying law as an undergrad (to name a few of the economic benefits). The return on the college investment sharply increases because a student can get in and out of the school in only less time. Also, aside from having a streamlined (and cost-effective) application policy, a number of these schools don’t stress the need for a broad array of extracurricular activities. In other words, if a student is having trouble filling out his or her pre-college résumé, applying to schools (such as the London School of Economics) can be even more advantageous, not to mention less competitive. This is something of worth to consider, and I thought I would pass this on. If you have further questions, please visit www.aneducationabroad.com and see the mechanics of that process. If you decide to sign up for a program, please use the code NEWCODA_EU. 2018 wrap up and next steps for juniors and seniors: With SAT and ACT scores now posted, let’s take a moment to make a game plan. If you are considering a retake of the ACT, the next date is February 9th, 2019. The next SAT isn’t until March 2nd, but that date will creep up faster than expected. Contact us if you are considering another test date. By the time you’re reading this, finals will be behind us. Just a reminder that we are here as a resource for academic support, whether it is English composition, Algebra 2, or BC Calculus. If you need some help maintaining a healthy G.P.A. feel free to reach out to schedule a meeting! If you’ve reached the end of this, thank you for reading! Thank you for such a great 2018!  Sincerely, Ryan

Researching and applying for scholarships can be difficult and time consuming. Unlike other applications, such as job apps, filling out scholarship forms never seems to end. Finding a scholarship with an application that is not only brief but also fun sounds too good to be true, but—maybe for the first time in the history of the internet—it is real! AdmitSee is granting a $5,000 scholarship to the student who best answers this question: “What's the most frustrating thing about applying to college? Tell us what you hate! 100 words max.” That’s right, your 100-word diatribe is worth $5,000. Apply here: https://www.admitsee.com/high-school-college-scholarships 

After poking and pinning my way through the internet, and I have decided that when it comes to test prep and studying, the advice online falls into one of three categories: the good, the bad, and the smugly delusional. The majority of the study tips and hacks fall into the final category, and I cringe to think of students believing such hogwash. Many advice articles fail because they are outdated, unscientific, or unrealistic, but the most treacherous lists include questionable advice alongside solid study habits. Deciding which tricks are legitimate is a trick in and of itself. So how do you discern the best from the bunk? Like anything on the internet, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Consider the source and use common sense. There are no blanket study methods that work for everyone. For example, I frequently see "find a study buddy" at the top of study hacks lists, but I know group study sessions never worked for me. I hate being interrupted, and being around people, even your most studious friends, will inevitably lead to interruptions. Most study hacks seem gimmicky or ridiculous to me, probably because when you’re studying, you should really be learning. There are no magical combinations of color coding and caffeine that can teleport information from a book or experiment into your brain. Rather than comb the internet for study tips, think about how you learn best. Do you draw pictures to bring your physics equation to life? Read aloud and ask yourself questions? Create ridiculous acronyms? Chances are you already know a trick or two, so forget planning to eat the exact snack right before the test as you did when you were studying. Focus on how you learn best, and keep doing what works for you. 

Some books are best experienced by teenagers. Such stories appeal to a particular pathos only an adolescent almost-adult can fully appreciate. Before it’s too late, give these the attention and affection they deserve.  Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger (277 pages) Holden and his what-does-it-mean meandering will hold a special place in your heart as you begin your own inevitable existential crisis. I was fortunate enough to read this book for the first time early in college, when I could empathize with a character so embroiled in his own complications that the outside world held little relevance. Now, as I reread Holden’s thoughts with students, my reactions to the story are based more on the art of Salinger’s craft and less on Holden’s internal struggle. I’m glad I was able to walk with Holden through a wintry Central Park when I was young enough not to care whether we’d brought our jackets. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (217 pages) Not only the end of the world, but the fate of the universe revolves around Arthur Dent, who, seconds before Earth is demolished, is just trying to prevent the city from rerouting a road right over his property. Dent travels through the story continually railroaded by forces outside of his control and many times outside his understanding. If this isn’t a metaphor for how it feels to be a teenager, I don’t know what is. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath (288 pages) Often yet inexplicably called the female version of Catcher in the Rye, The Bell Jar still is best first digested by a young mind grappling with what it means to be yourself. While Holden consistently sabotages his success, Esther scrambles to reconcile how she can thrive and yet not be happy—and whether this dichotomy makes her insane. While it is true that it’s never too late to read a good book, younger readers will find certain novels especially poignant. These stories and characters will resonate with teenagers in a way that is simply less accessible later in life. So do your young self a favor—lend an ear to Holden, offer Arthur some tea, and let Esther answer her own questions. You’ll be glad you did.

To continue the discussion of novels best pondered by the imaginations of young adulthood, consider these selections. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho (197 pages) The principles of alchemy, the magical chemistry that turns metals into gold, guide the story of Santiago, who quite literally follows his dreams. Rather than stay close to home and lead the ordinary life of a shepherd, Santiago decides to take a risk and journeys to the pyramids. Santiago is unburdened by the responsibilities and considerations of adulthood, but has all the vigor and single-minded zeal of a young man ready to face the world for the first time. The story reads as an extended fable—a cautionary tale against the perils of an unfulfilled life—and is best suited for readers considering their own paths. Tortilla Flat, John Steinbeck (151 pages) Danny inherits two homes that quickly devolve into flophouses for friends, ruffians, an drunkards as the soldiers return to Monterey, CA from the WWI battlefields. The characters lead charmingly uncharmed lives, spending hyacinth days with their ride or die as though nothing will ever change. These endless days of easy and predictable camaraderie echo no where so loudly as through the halls of a high school. The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton (192 pages) Tensions between rival gangs, the greasers and the socs, start high and escalate as their pride and pugilism is tested. Ponyboy is caught in the crossfire and has to decide for himself what is right, if anything, amid violence and chaos. The social injustice Ponyboy and Johnny endure thunders eternally when first experienced by a reader navigating the complexities of teenage society. I dare you to come away unmoved. Stay golden, Ponyboy. These are only a few of the Bildungsromans that speak especially to readers who are themselves coming of age. Every journey starts somewhere. Just ask Santiago, Danny, or Ponyboy.

Timed essays can leave students feeling too rushed to create an outline, but beginning an essay without an outline is like starting any project without a plan—it can be done, but things can easily swing out of control. Outlines force you to begin the writing process immediately, organize your thoughts, and structure your examples and analyses. It’s worth the few minutes it takes to jot down your ideas. The blank pages following the essay prompt can be paralyzing, but creating an outline jump-starts your writing process. By the time you’ve noted the points you want to make, you’ve gained momentum and are ready to begin your essay. As Mary Poppins would say, “Well begun is half done.” Essay prompts usually provide a a wide range of ideas, but an outline can help you organize the information you need and brainstorm examples and relevant details. Outlining your thoughts guarantees that you won’t forget your counter arguments or brilliant insights by the time you’ve written several paragraphs. An outline also keeps your essay focused and structured. Without an outline, it is easy to spend too much time on tangential information. An outline serves as a template for your essay, so as you are writing, you are not overly burdened by figuring out what points to make next or what the following paragraph should include—all that information has been noted on your outline. You can then focus entirely on clearly and persuasively making your arguments. I am a fan of making a plan, and preparing for an essay is no exception. Designing an outline helps to begin your writing process while also ensuring that you remain focused on your ideas and arguments. 

Timed essays can leave students feeling too rushed to create an outline, but beginning an essay without an outline is like starting any project without a plan—it can be done, but things can easily swing out of control. Outlines force you to begin the writing process immediately, organize your thoughts, and structure your examples and analyses. It’s worth the few minutes it takes to jot down your ideas. The blank pages following the essay prompt can be paralyzing, but creating an outline jump-starts your writing process. By the time you’ve noted the points you want to make, you’ve gained momentum and are ready to begin your essay. As Mary Poppins would say, “Well begun is half done.” Essay prompts usually provide a a wide range of ideas, but an outline can help you organize the information you need and brainstorm examples and relevant details. Outlining your thoughts guarantees that you won’t forget your counter arguments or brilliant insights by the time you’ve written several paragraphs. An outline also keeps your essay focused and structured. Without an outline, it is easy to spend too much time on tangential information. An outline serves as a template for your essay, so as you are writing, you are not overly burdened by figuring out what points to make next or what the following paragraph should include—all that information has been noted on your outline. You can then focus entirely on clearly and persuasively making your arguments. I am a fan of making a plan, and preparing for an essay is no exception. Designing an outline helps to begin your writing process while also ensuring that you remain focused on your ideas and arguments. 

The spring semester hosts a daunting number of activities for high school students. Standardized tests are in full swing; the FAFSA is due; colleges are giving tours; the spring dances, plays, and sporting events are ongoing. Oh, and the regular coursework is coming to the end-of-year crescendo. How can a student stay sane amidst this chaos? Avoid a one-way ticket to the nervous hospital by staying organized and rested. Nothing is more stressful than last-minute problems or surprises—avoid these by keeping a detailed calendar of your obligations and scheduling time for studying, socializing, and relaxing. Set daily and weekly goals. I like writing out lists and crossing items off as I’ve finished them; deleting tasks from my phone does not give me the same sense of accomplishment. Plus, crumpling up a completed list and making the three-point shot into the recycling bin is a feeling unrivaled by any app. Ideally, you relax after your homework is done, but if it doesn’t always work out that way, now is a great time to learn how to improvise. If your sanity needs an unscheduled break, take it. Just remember that your list isn’t going to complete itself.

Perhaps one of the largest ripples to hit the calm waters of the standardized testing industry has been the announcement and, hopefully, the anti-climactic arrival of the new SAT in March of 2016. However, changes are underway at its long-standing counterpart the ACT, one of which we will discuss below. In September of 2015, the ACT issued its first test with the new essay format (teenagers groan), which, in actuality, is easier than the essay assignment on the current SAT and also easier than the previous version of the ACT essay task. One plague, if so dramatic a term could be used to describe the situation, is the lack of sample essay prompts available, whether online or in print. Fear not, young ones. Here is a breakdown of the assignment: You are presented with a broad issue, and given three relatively distinct perspectives – typically encompassing the issue from all sides (or at least 2 sides). Your task will be to evaluate each perspective, and decide whether you agree or disagree with each, and with which parts of the arguments. The biggest part of this: YOU NEED TO STATE YOUR OWN OPINION. It’s not enough to just analyze the flaws of the three given arguments, but you want to pick and choose the pieces of each one that support your opinion. Remember, the essay is about your stance, not just those given. Below please find our first prompt in our ACT essay series. Keep in mind that the essay portion of the test is 40 minutes and hand written, not typed. PROMPT Summary Ghost writing is writing for another who is the presumed author. This practice is common among celebrities, politicians, and business leaders. They hire ghost writers to create content for blogs, speeches, and other communications. Sometimes it is clear that the content has been written by a ghost writer, but many times this distinction is not made or even implied. Many people use ghost writers because they want to get their message out, but do not have the time or talent to write material themselves. Opponents believe that any sort of ghost writing essentially is misleading, while others maintain that as long as the presumed author agrees with the content, it doesn’t matter who actually wrote it. How do we decide if ghost writing is ethical? Is this an important enough issue to warrant debate? Perspective One: Public figures can’t be expected to create all the content modern communication requires—social media accounts and websites require constant attention and updating. Anyone who assumes that people like the Pope or the presidents are writing, editing, and posting each and every one of their communications themselves deserves to be mislead. This is an important issue because people should realize the realities of ghost writing. Perspective Two: Ghost writers may not be hurting anyone, but they are definitely and intentionally misleading people. This is an important issue because truth is already difficult enough to find. Deliberately omitting the source of content leaves out the context, which renders the entire piece untrustworthy. A simple byline, such as “Written on behalf of Dr. X by ABC” would succinctly and sufficiently give context and credibility to the content. Perspective Three: This is not an important ethical issue. As long as the ghost writer has the approval of the person he or she is writing for, the message then would be the same as though it was directly from the presumed author. In order to maintain their reputations and keep their jobs, ghost writers will accurately portray the ideals of the people they work for. Essay Task  Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate the multiple perspectives on the ethical problems inherent in ghost writing. In your essay, be sure to *Analyze and Evaluate the perspectives given * State and develop your own perspective on the issue *Explain the relationship between your perspective and those given Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different. Whatever the case, support your ideas with logical reasoning and detailed, persuasive examples. SAMPLE ESSAY With so much content available both in print and on the internet, it is easy to overlook authorship. People now peruse information without considering the source. Knowing who the writers are is not only important, it is critical to a complete understanding of the content. Ghost writing by definition misrepresents the message, and is therefore unethical; demand for media does not validate outsourcing, and ghost writing removes the presumed author from the content without safeguarding against fraud or dishonesty. The pressure to produce constant, consistent, and relevant content affects even the most humble social media user; the pressure on public figures is more than onerous-- it’s impractical. Ghost writing is the natural result, but damages the presumed author’s credibility by misrepresenting his or her message. When a biography or blog is said to be written by someone but really isn’t, the validity of the writing is corrupted. Everyone, public figures included, should be expected to create the content attributed to them. Yet the demand for ghost writers remains high. The presumed authors presume to maintain control over the content; however, once the research and writing is removed from presumed author by the mere existence of a ghost writer, the context of and connection to the content are also removed. The expectations of the readers are not met, and worse, readers are mislead. Even if the ghost writer’s work remains true to the message and is approved by the implied author, readers are still under the misapprehension that the content is direct from the author. This misdirection is unethical and can only lead to negative outcomes. For example, if I read a scholarly article published by Harry Freeman, I would expect that it is Mr. Freeman’s own ideas and writing, not his ideas as interpreted by his ghost writer. As a researcher and reader, should I discover that indeed Mr. Freeman did not write the essay in his book, then everything I’ve read by Freeman is now questionable. Worse, if I do not make that discovery, I am ignorantly thinking that all the words in the book are Freeman’s own. Both outcomes are a discredit to the author and reader. Once this good faith is lost, the relationship between authors and readers will be destroyed, and the utter lack of regulations in the ghost writing field further blights this relationship. There are no formal protections in place to preserve the credibility of authors or shield readers from veiled authorship. A simple byline clearly stating the true authorship could easily address this issue, but the entire industry functions on the honor code, which allows rampant fraud and dishonesty to clamor for the same attention as valid sources. Though full disclosure about ghost writing does exist, it is too far spoiled by widespread unethical practices, making ghost writing an important ethical issue. The practice of ghost writing automatically removes the presumed author from the content and misguides readers, which itself is unethical. Without regulations to prevent misinformation and protect both authors and readers, an already unethical industry remains wholly ungoverned by the rules of ethics.

Classes are over. It's cold outside. No one blames you for wanting to find your footie pajamas and hibernate. Winter break is the time to decompress and enjoy the holidays. Give yourself some leisure time to rest, read, and recuperate. Reflect on all that you've accomplished and what's coming in the new year. If you haven't finished your college admissions paperwork, use the time you have away from school to concentrate on putting together an excellent application. Draft and polish your essays and ask for help proofreading; others will catch mistakes or confusing language that you may miss. Don't take on the world during your vacation. Give yourself a break so you can start the spring semester rested and ready. 

When it comes to the SAT and ACT, just deciding how to prepare can be daunting. If you don’t have time for the traditional preparation process—practice tests, tutoring, flashcards, etc.—there is still something you can do to help boost your test scores. Both the SAT and ACT have significant reading requirements. You can practice your critical reading skills with a news article or magazine piece; ask yourself about the main points and supporting arguments. Summarize the main ideas in a single sentence. If you prefer fiction, pick up a short classic, such as Louisa May Alcott’s The Inheritance (192 pages) or John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row (181 pages) and ask those same questions—what is the point? How does the author make that clear? This is a quick and easy way to sharpen your ability to decode important information and, best of all, it’s free. Take advantage of your library, the countless news articles published online, and our Recommended Reading board on Pinterest. There are plenty of test prep books, apps, articles, and services screaming for your attention, but if you can focus only on one thing, read! 

Attention college-bound students! Are you feeling thwarted by the admissions process? Great news—now your grumblings can earn you more than a Best Rant retweet.  Vent your way to a $5,000 scholarship from Admitsee. Is the Common App not quite common enough? Is it fairly farfetched to capture your personality in 650 words or fewer? Don’t hold back, but hurry, the next winner (whiner?) will be selected December 15th. Enter here: www.admitsee.com/fund

No matter how impressive your grades, test scores, or extracurriculars, the college essay is your only opportunity to personalize your your college application and stand out from the crowd. Think of the essay as a chance to highlight abilities or interests not represented on your report card. Your essay gives life to your application, and you are already an expert on the subject: yourself. Should be easy, right? But how do you fit everything that makes you YOU into 650 words? You don’t. Instead, find one thing about yourself, show how this has affected your path in life, and then connect it to what you want to do in the future—specifically, at that particular college. Connecting your interest with a certain program or activity creates a link between you and the college, and it shows that you are not applying on a whim. When deciding exactly what to write about, ask yourself how you spend your time. Have you been dog sitting regularly for the last year? Write about your entrepreneurial spirit and what you’ve heard about the school’s annual start-up fair. Do you love finding new uses for your iPhone? Write about your passion for tech and connect it with the school’s state-of-the-art library. Brainstorm by writing a list of possible topics, including examples. The most detailed item on your list is a good place to start. Once you have your topic, describe what it is and why it’s important to you. Then reflect on what this says about your personality and interests. Finally, show why this is important for your future and how it connects you with the college. This format may seem familiar to you—likely you have written a character analysis before in your English class. This time, instead of writing about how Hamlet’s mother is really the smartest character in the play and then proving with textual evidence, you are illustrating your individuality and ability to reflect. Not to be overlooked is your ability to write. Do not underestimate the importance of rewriting and editing. If a sentence doesn’t sound right, rewrite it in three or four different ways; this gives you more options and gets your brain thinking about what you want to say. You want your essay to stand out in a good way, so avoid grammatical errors, repetitive sentence structures, and typos. Read your essay aloud to catch missing words and to check your flow of information. Have at least two other people read through your essay—it’s hard to self edit, and another set of eyes is likely to catch small mistakes you may have skimmed right over. Do not rely only on spell check for this. Spell check does not know what you’re trying to say and further, it doesn’t care. Get feedback from people who want to help you succeed and who know you well enough to make applicable suggestions. Your essay is just a snapshot of who you are, so make it a snapshot of something special, memorable, and most of all, something very you. Keep in mind the immortal words of Dr. Seuss, “There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” The essay is the “tell us a little about yourself” portion of the application process, and you have all the answers. 

As the clock winds down on 2015, I hope that everyone involved with New Coda, even tangentially, has some time to relax. I want to take a few moments to give thanks to those who helped me directly, and to those who made my work memorable. I’ve heard back from those high school seniors who’ve already been accepted to their schools of choice. Excitedly, this bunch has expressed gratitude for New Coda’s humble work, and our staff and I wish to express equal gratitude for the opportunities we’ve been provided to work with the freshman collegians of 2016! Parting thoughts include warnings against falling to senioritis too soon, tempered expectations of the college experience, and the attitudes that will best carry these students through the next four to eight years of academia. To the parents, guardians, doters, tyrants, and, most evidently, supporters of the above students: THANK YOU! Teenagers are such interesting creatures, and your aid in this process, whether passively or not, deserves ovations that are likely not given at home. To our clients in every corner of the SF bay area, we wish you a happy new year! Within New Coda, I would like to personally thank Sheléne for making such an impact, and for bracing my nerves for the road ahead (ambitious undertakings await us next year). To our newer recruits, I wish you all a happy new year, and encourage you to help us blossom this business beyond what we’ve accomplished in three years. And as we move to the coda of 2015, I want to give my thanks to the furry friends who’ve reminded me that technology won’t replace personality… Thank you Ally, Happy, Roo, Hope, Ivy, Milo, Snicker, Tasha, Simba, Mario, Janie, Guinness, Roly, Precious, Ollie, and the rest! Sincerely, Ryan Sigman CEO/Founder – New Coda Seasons greetings, readers! The year 2015 has been a big one for me. I started with New Coda full time, and I am very glad to now be working with students, getting to know other tutors, and even relearning math (never thought I’d say that!). My favorite thing, other than starting our Pinterest page, has been reading essays and discussing the power and peculiarity of language with students. I look forward to all the challenges and opportunities 2016 is bound to bring, but most of all, I can’t wait to read the sometimes zany, always imaginative work students create. Thank you, students, for your hard work and good humor—I hope you are enjoying your break! However you spend your holiday season, I hope you are well, and I wish you a happy and healthy new year. Best wishes, Sheléne Peterson 

The math on the ACT has been increasing in difficulty, if not obscurity, for most high school students. We face the following situation remarkably often: a parent contacts us, insisting that her junior in high school absolutely must take the ACT, because she was given a diagnostic test from another prep company that indicated the student’s performance would be marginally higher on the ACT than on the CollegeBoard's favorite college entrance exam (SAT). I ask, “What math class is your daughter (or son) currently taking?” Even if the reply is “pre-calc” or a course of even higher nobility for a junior, I don't assume everything is going to go well for the test. Now, I will aver that precalculus classes vary widely, especially among public and private schools around the San Francisco bay area. For many schools on the SF peninsula (and in the city itself), there exist multiple “lanes” of precalc. These lanes signify aptitude in a sense: normal, honors, AP (there isn't really an AP precalculus class, but parents tend to identify with that sort of ranking comfortably). The names of the courses sound as follows: Algebra 2/trig, intro to trigonometry, precalculus, trig/analyt (trigonometry with analytic geometry), IAC, or simply Analysis Honors (my Palo Alto clients know this name well, as their sons and daughters cry from night terrors almost weekly). The short of it all might be easier to digest by comparing these to what the parents remember (or have forgotten) learning: Geometry Algebra Trigonometry Calculus What is missing from the above cycle, and what is etching a more permanent mark on the ACT, is Statistics. Of course, every high school in the bay area now offers AP Statistics, usually as a supplement to (or as a replacement of) the ever-dreaded C-word... Calculus. Statistics isn't a terribly difficult class, at least at the high school level, but most juniors taking the ACT in the fall or winter (September, October, or December test dates) will find some charts, graphs, and word problems difficult to understand due to a lack of familiarity. Timing plays the key factor in this conundrum. Students will perform best after learning statistics material (mean, median, mode, range, quartiles, standard deviations, histograms, stem and leaf plots, etc.), but also want to sit for the ACT before their second semester of junior year. Getting the material under their belts before the spring crunch is usually the driving factor, and even regular precalculus classes don't cover the scope of content on the ACT math section until second semester (depending on school district). Getting technical for a moment, the ACT math section goes as far as the law of sines, the law of cosines, histograms, stem and leaf plots, inverse trig functions, combinatorics (a fancy word, but a useful math), and logarithms. Logarithms are covered even earlier in a math career (typically algebra 2 and above), but students' memories tend to grow hazy when approaching that particular topic. It's okay. Most of the above material can be hashed through in a session or two with a quality tutor at any firm. I've rambled on enough about this change, but I just want to advise parents that a student's current math level, though seemingly adequate, may have some holes. Footnote to the above: the new version of the SAT, which we barely eagerly await for the March 2016 date, will not be much different from the ACT, especially in its math content. The new SAT overlaps in a number of ways, especially on the statistics front and, as is merited by our Big Data craze, is to be expected. Thank you for reading through to the end of this, and expect updates soon as we continue our Changes to the ACT series. Very best, Ryan 

The difficulty of the English section of the new ACT is not so easily measured as in the math section—so much depends upon a student’s comfort with a comma, a colon, or a concept. The changes to the English section have little to do with content: get ready for 75 questions about grammar, usage, and rhetoric. The changes instead have more to do with scoring. The change comes in the form of a composite score: instead of getting just an English score based on the number of questions answered correctly in that section, students will get an English Langauge Arts score, which is a combination of the scores in English, reading, and writing. The theory behind this change is that an overall English Language Arts score gives a comprehensive account more closely reflective of the student’s abilities and college readiness. The reading section’s scoring is different in the same way, but the reading section itself will have an additional two types of questions. Students will still be given four passages to read followed by a set of comprehension questions—ye olde familiar riff. Many questions will focus on small details or larger themes within the passage just as in previous ACT tests. The first difference in the new ACT reading section will be questions that may refer to more than one of the passages; this will test not only for comprehension, but also critical thinking and integration of ideas. Additionally, the reading section will have corresponding graphs or charts related to the passage. Expect questions regarding interpreting this data. These changes reflect the new ACT’s focus on skills students will need in college and beyond. 

One of my favorite parts of my job is reading student essays. I love the surprising juxtapositions and insights, the pop culture references that have to be explained to me, and seeing students experiment with tone and style. Every essay is different, but many share a few common and easily remedied flaws. The purpose of most essays is to answer a question, but sometimes, especially on timed essays, students are distracted by their compelling examples and do not clearly state the argument—they do not answer the question. Avoid this mishap by restating the question (prompt) in the form of an opinion in your opening paragraph. When timing is tight, this can serve as your thesis and guiding argument. Another problem writers run into is how much analysis to do for each example. Examples are much easier to describe, and students tend to spend a lot of time with interesting details about each example. Remember that each example must not only provide evidence supporting your thesis, but also include insightful analysis as to exactly how or why it’s a good example. Connect the examples to the thesis. For a timed essay, you should have at least as many sentences of analysis as you do of examples. The analysis, rather than the example itself, is where students should spend their time: go ahead and make those interesting connections and compelling arguments. Finally, we all know that writers should proofread their work. I have caught small but significant mistakes in my own writing; remember that one word can mean the difference between a crash and a crash landing. When writing a timed essay, though, it’s easy to skimp on this step or skip it entirely. Try to leave a few minutes to reread what you’ve written. You may be surprised at the corrections you can make. These refinements will improve your papers and strengthen your writing. Keep those essays coming!