Are High School Students Really Prepared for College?

Over 1.6 million high school seniors took the SAT last year. They rescheduled weekend activities, drove to a test site, and showed the College Board what they were made of. The results are out, and they don’t particularly inspire confidence: only 43% of high school seniors are ready for college if their SAT grades are any indication.

That’s not a happy number. Less than half who sit the SAT college entrance exams show they know enough to keep their heads above water in college. In other words, the College Board says that their poor results show that most seniors who take the test won’t retain what they’ve learned, or even complete college.

So, what constitutes a good benchmark? The College Board sets the figure at a 1500 combined Critical Reading, Math and Writing score, which indicates a 65% likelihood that the student will achieve at least a B-average in grades. Students who achieve high grades in school are also more likely to complete college.

What to Take Away From This Study

1. Instead of taking the test in order to satisfy a requirement on a college application, students should look at the test as an indicator of future success in college.

For many students, the SAT represents little more than a stepping stone to get through the college application. Well before a student’s senior year, take a look at the types of questions asked on the test. Decide whether the courses being taken will satisfy the requirements on the exam. If not, while you might earn decent grades and graduate, perhaps even with honors, how will you be able to compete in a college environment? Is your student giving himself or herself the best academic opportunities?

2. Enroll in advanced placement classes, which are designed specifically to prepare students for college-level work. If your student takes these classes and does well, understand that this will translate to performance in college. More than that, excelling in these courses and getting high scores on the A.P. exams may even exempt your student from having to take certain classes in college – which can save both time and money.

College Board numbers support this: for students taking Advanced Placement or honors literature courses, combined scores were an average of 163 points higher than those students who hadn’t taken these classes. Even more improvement is evident for those in advanced placement or honors math classes: these students scored 204 points higher on their SAT.

3. Don’t think that being prepared for the SAT alone is enough to prepare your student for college. As a relatively weak analogy, but one that qualifies nonetheless, just because I make a great pot of chili doesn’t mean I’m a great cook. It means I do one thing very well and you shouldn’t assume that I’m prepared to give cooking advice or impress anyone with my ability to bake. Preparing for the SAT will help if you already know enough advanced math, writing and reading to be able to apply it to the format of the exam with the best results.

4. Make sure your senior doesn’t succumb to senioritis and assume that simply because the tests are taken and the college acceptance letters are rolling in that it’s fine to slack off.

As the former teacher of high school seniors and an A.P. Lit and Comp teacher, I can tell you it most certainly isn’t. Those skills will be needed as soon as your student steps on campus as a college freshman. So many of my former students found this out the hard way and returned to tell me they’d wished they’d listened when I gave this speech to them.

Take these newest statistics from the College Board to heart. The results bring back the SAT test objectives full circle: it is intended to measure future success for incoming college freshman.

Pass these tips on and drive the point home, and, by all means, don’t assume it’s too late to get down to work and get prepared for college.


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