Why are SAT and ACT scores dropping?
Tutoring | Financial Aid Consulting
Average ACT and SAT scores dropped in 2024 compared to 2023. What does this mean for 11th grade and younger kids who are headed to college?
1.4 million kids took the ACT in 2024, the average score: 19.4, down from 19.5 in 2023. Big whoop.
1.97 million kids took the SAT or PSAT in 2024, the average score: 1024, down from 1028 the previous year. Big whoop number two.
The party line among test professionals is not that our kids are dumber, but that more kids are taking the tests.
My hunch is the opposite, lower scores are part of the overall decline in education, achievement and accountability that keeps me up at night. A topic for another day, or never (publicly).
Let's turn to some specific advice for college-bound 11th graders and younger.
Prep hard and take the tests, either the SAT or ACT. Start before you're "ready," so you don't run out of time.
Take a diagnostic exam first, to determine Which Test is Best.
More and more colleges ...
SAT vs. ACT: Tonight!
The SAT and ACT have each changed formats recently, leaving many parents and kids wondering, "Which Test is Best...for me?"
We'll help you answer that question, tonight, in a free online class.
Topics to be covered:
- The new ACT Changes and how they affect your child
- Which test - SAT or ACT -- is best for strong math students?
- Which one is best for weaker math students?
- Which test is best for slow test takers?
- The "High GPA, Bad Test-Taker" phenomenon
- How to combat test anxiety
More, including your questions!
The whole kit and kaboodle will run 60 minutes or less. If you're around tonight, it will definitely be worth your while to attend, so you can discover the key differences between the SAT and ACT...
...so that your kiddo can CRUSH the test, get into the college of their dreams and win tons of fat, juicy scholarships along the way!
See you in class!
- Andy Lockwood
P.S. Results not guaranteed. Batteries not included. Some assembly required.
I screwed up
I messed up last night.
Based on the 5 star reviews and the comments and questions in the chat , it looked like last night's "Late Stage" College Planning webinar went over well.
However, at the end, I learned that I did something pretty stupid.
When I mentioned that if anyone wanted a free College Strategy Session, all they had to do was click the green button, a couple of people replied:
"Where's the green button"
I didn't post it, somehow. Impressive!
To make things right in the world again, I'm publishing a recording of the webinar momentarily, and will keep it up all weekend. If you want to chat about our college advising services, there will be a button under the video recording. (I mean it this time. :)
Here's where to go:
- Andy "Not That Tech Savvy" Lockwood
P.S. The topics on the webinar were...
*The Inconvenient, Politically Incorrect Truth About What It Takes to Get Into an Ivy or Any Top College -- What do admissions officers REALLY want?...
Free SAT / ACT class tonight
Hi there,
If you have questions about the brand spanking new SAT, and/or the brand newer/spanking-er ACT that JUST came out three weeks ago. tune in for tonight's impromptu, live SAT- ACT Preview class.
It starts at 8pm EST.
Here's the classroom link, no registration necessary. Just show up at 8pm (bookmark the link so you don't forget):
- Andy"At the Test Prep Movies" Lockwood
P.S. Please share this with anyone you think could use this info.
P.P.S. One more no-risk, freebie for you: a "Test Drive", Try Before You Buy actual free SAT or ACT Class.
(This is an actual class, totally different than tonight's walkthrough of both tests.)
How to Support Your Kiddo Without Overstepping
College Coffee Talk | Free SAT & ACT Class
Good morning!
Two announcements:
1. We're hitting the airwaves this morning -- 10:00am EST -- for College Coffee Talk, our live show about college admissions and financial aid news that you can use!
Here's what's on tap for today, it's a real doozy, bound to make some parents a little miffed:
How can parents support their children in the application process without overstepping?
In other words...
How not to be a helicopter parent even if you think nothing will get done if you don't micromanage your child until they're 35 years old.
2. Today's the last day for our Free SAT and ACT class promo, a/k/a Try Before You Buy. Here's where to sign up.
Marissa will be doing a live Q&A tonight at 8pm EST. I'll send out the link for that session this afternoon.
Here's where to join us live on College Coffee Talk, in a few minutes, 10am sharp!
- Andy "Caffeine Addict" Lockwood
The Test Optional Lie
Free SAT and ACT Class | Last Minute College Advising
You may have heard, more and more colleges are abandoning their test-optional policies. And for the colleges that still let you conceal your SAT and ACT scores, there's more to the story.
Plain and simple...
There's a difference between APPLYING test optional versus being ACCEPTED test optional
The three most important academic components of a college application are 1. GPA, 2. rigor of course load and 3. standardized test scores. These three factors comprise approximately 60% of the entire college application.
Simple logic: if you remove one of these three academic components -- test scores -- the other two factors take on greater weight. So do the non-academic ones (40% of the application).
Mass marketing by colleges has created a tsunami of applications, year after year. But are those applicants from QUALIFIED students?
Or is a huge chunk of them from kids who think, "Princeton doesn't need test scores, so I'll thr...
Your Essay Doesn't Have to Be "This"
The College Essay Lab | ACT Update
Here's a big hangup I hear from our college advisory students, year after year:
"I can't come up with anything original."
To that I say, "Balderdash!"
Because that's not THE THING. Not your job.
A college essay writer's task is not to be "original."
Think about it, the average admissions officer reviews 1,000 applications each year. Some applications have two-five supplemental essays, each.
If the admissions officer has three years' career experience, that amounts to at least 3,000 essays, perhaps triple or quadruple that amount when supplemental essays are part of the equation.
Your chances of surprising your admissions officer?
Approximately the same as Joe Biden pulling a Tom Brady, "un-retiring" and winning the presidency.
That is to say, zero.
Ah, so what IS your task?
To write something fresh. Unusual. Something INTERESTING.
How do you do this?
Generally speaking, an interesting essay is so because it shares details inste...
[Tonight] New Digital SAT
Hot off the presses:
Our head tutor, Marissa U, is fresh off a conference w/ one of the big wigs at the College Board, who shared information (some good, some vague) about the new digital SAT that came out earlier this year.
Tonight, she will share her newfound insight in a brand new webinar.
If you're wondering about how the College Board "adjusts" the test based on how a student does in the first section (it's weird), you should tune in.
Marissa will also share tips and tricks on how to get more answers correct, and score as high as possible!
Here's where to sign up -- please share this invite with anyone you know who could use it:
- Andy Lockwood
P.S. At the end of the month, I'll be hosting an actual live (not a webinar) event in our brand new office. Details to come.
"Secrets" of the New Digital SAT
Our head tutor Marissa U just got back from a conference where a rep from the College Board shocked the crowd with little known revelations about the brand spanking new digital SAT.
After Marissa told me about the first one, I interrupted and said, "We need to do a webinar for our list!"
So that's what we decided to do, tomorrow night. Marissa will run through the latest information you need to know before deciding to take the SAT.
Or deciding not to take the SAT.
She'll cover the funky way that they now "adjust" the test based on how a student does in the first section (it's weird); plus tips and tricks on how to get more answers correct, and score as high as possible!
Here's where to sign up -- please share this invite with anyone you know who could use it:
- Andy Lockwood
P.S. I'm also hosting an actual live (not a webinar) event in our brand new office, at the end of the month. Details to come.
Advice for Rising Seniors (2025 families)
I'm going to go a bit negative this morning, if you'll indulge me.
This time of year, it's rare for a day to go by without having to break bad news. We get several calls and emails per week from Class of 2024, high school senior families, looking for help with appealing wait lists or rejections from colleges. And more requests for help negotiating financial aid and merit aid offers.
We have to turn down 9 out of 10 of these requests.
The worst part is that an alarmingly high percentage of inquiries come from moms or dads who have followed us -- reading these emails, attending our webinars and in-person workshops, even speaking to us 1:1 -- since last year, or longer. Had they retained us a year or two earlier, we could have helped them avoid the pickles they're currently in.
It all could have been avoided.
Tonight, I'm doing one of my last presentations of the year for Rising Seniors -- yes, that means current 11th graders, but not for long -- to help you avoid these highly avo...