Are the SAT’s as Significant as They Once Were?

Another commencement season has come and gone, but some things stay the same for kids hoping to get into college and parents trying to help them.

FOX’s Lisa Brady has more in this week’s ‘FOX on Family’:

My kids are in grade school, but I’m already worrying about college and wondering do the SAT’s still matter?:

(Burk) “85 percent of colleges will admit and give scholarship money on your test scores alone.”

Jean Burk, founder of College Prep Genius, says that’s because colleges get national rankings based on test scores. A standardized test also levels the playing field for applicants:

(Burk) “A 4.0 at one high school is not the same at another; every school weighs and caluculates their scores differently.”

So Burk recommends letting kids practice taking the SAT or ACT, even as young as sixth grade. She says it’s not really about the math or reading content; it’s a logic test:

(Burk) “The questions are purposely misleading and so the wrong answers look very appealing, so it’s really not about your IQ, about how smart you are, it’s about really understanding the patterns that are on the test.”

She also cautions that ‘test-optional’ schools often have their own test and that the vast majority of colleges still require traditional scores.

With FOX on Family, I’m Lisa Brady.

Follow Jean Burk on Twitter:?@collegeprepgeni

Burk also cautions soccer moms that while a partial scholarship is possible, only six sports offer the chance at a full scholarship: Football, basketball, tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. And even scholarship athletes have to meet a minimum score on the SAT. She also raises a red flag about test-prep programs that try to re-teach high school content instead of focusing on test patterns. Copies of the SAT and ACT are available online for free. You can find Jean Burk at CollegePrepGenius.com.