FAQ #4: Is there anything I can do to help my child do their best on the SAT?

ANSWER: Here are some useful things parents can do: 1) Become educated about the various tests, and 2) Don’t panic about your child taking them. With your child’s permission, you can be helpful by 3) completing registration forms and reminding your child about deadlines for registration and test dates. You can also offer to 4) make sure that test transcripts are sent to the various colleges. 5) Mom or Dad can help a student with vocabulary lists, but that should only come at their child’s agreement. 6) If parents are willing to pay for SAT preparation books, CDs, courses or tutoring, wonderful – that will help as well.

Perhaps the most useful thing parents can do is 7) provide his/her child with chauffeur service on the day of a test. This can relieve a lot of the stress from having to drive (often many miles) to a test center and find a parking space where the test is being offered. If you’re smart, you and your kid might even make a “dry-run” to the test location a day or two before the test to make sure you know where you are going. You have no idea how many students miss (or are late for) a test because they got lost, couldn’t find a parking place or the building where the test is offered.

GOOD ENOUGH TEST SCORES FOR 15 MAJOR COLLEGES

Here are the 25th-75th percentile scores for fifteen well-known colleges as noted in the 2010 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges:

COLLEGE	25th-75th SAT percentile range
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	1370-1560
Stanford University	1340-1540
University of Notre Dame	1380-1520
Wellesley College	1280-1470
Kenyon College	1230-1400
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	1210-1410
Skidmore College	1150-1350
Denison University	1220-1340
University of Texas, Austin	1100-1360
Juniata College	1100-1310
Iowa State University	1030-1260
Eckerd College	1020-1240
Evergreen State College	960-1230
University of Arizona	950-1220
Cal State University, Fresno	820-1060

A conversion chart that compares ACT scores with SAT scores using the sum of Critical Reading and Math scores (1600 base) and SAT scores using the sum of Critical Reading, Math and Writing scores (2400 base) can be found on page 22 of this guide.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! Even though SAT scores are often a major ingredient in admissions, it is very important to keep SATs in perspective. Both parents and students must remember that a student is not his or her SAT scores.