Summer is officially over, so start college essays!

With the end of summer, there isn't much time before you have to start to get cranking on last minute test prep, and the dreaded college essays.  Here are a few tips to help you get started on college essays (which you should asap).

The common application essays are due December 31 for most colleges. You can access the common app at https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/default.aspx. 

UC applications are due on November 30, which means you will have roughly 2 months from today to finish the applications if you wish to apply to University of California schools such as UCLA and UC Berkeley. Start the application if you wish to apply at http://www.ucop.edu/pathways/

If you don't know what to write about, you should start brainstorming for the college essays. Think about your talents, passions, achievements, etc. 

Summer time

So it's officially summer time (for most students anyway)! Many people like to enjoy their summer by relaxing, however the student who wants to get into a good UC or an ivy league college will be working hard in addition to relaxing this summer. In order to raise your SAT scores this summer for the October, November, or December test dates, you should definitely pick up a good SAT guide or a good SAT tutor. The best guides are the TutorFox New SAT Guide, Kaplan's SAT guide, or Princeton Reviews SAT guide. Getting an SAT tutor for a good price will depend on the area where you live. Typical prices for a good SAT tutor range from about $40 to $300 per hour for the most expensive tutors. Keep in mind that the best tutors are not necessarily the most expensive ones.

What is a good score for the SAT?

SAT scores are rather relative, since they truly depend on your aspirations, and more generally, what colleges, and for what major you are applying for.
If you desire to go to an Ivy League college such as Harvard, Brown, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, your SAT score needs to be at least 2200 to have a fighting chance. Thus if you aspire to get into a top tier college, a good SAT score would be 2200+.

Now say you want to apply for a competitive major such as engineering or biology at a top college, then your SAT score needs to be higher, at least 2250.

Next if you want to go to a top public college like UC Berkeley (UCB), or UCLA, then you need an SAT score higher than 2050 to have a decent chance. Now say you want to get into UCLA or UCB for a competitive major like computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, biology, or chemistry, then you need a higher SAT score. 2100 will give you a higher than 30% chance of getting into these top public colleges, but a great SAT score for you would be higher than 2150, which will give you higher than 50% chances for the engineering and science fields.

Lastly if you want to get into the really competitive math/science/engineering schools like Caltech or MIT, then a good new SAT score for you would be anything above 2250. If you really want high chances, then you will need an SAT score of above 2300.

Which colleges have the highest SAT scores?

Colleges and Universities that are more competitive tend to have higher average SAT scores. When I say average SAT scores, I mean the average SAT scores of accepted students to the respective universities. Harvard for instance has an average New SAT score of 2250. Here is a useful list of average SAT scores of accepted students to some very elite universities:

Harvard average SAT: 2250
Princeton average SAT: 2220
Yale average SAT: 2240
Cornell average SAT: 2095
MIT average SAT: 2175
UCLA average SAT: 2000
Caltech average SAT: 2250
USC average SAT: 2045
Duke average SAT: 2170

Of course just because a college has a higher average New SAT score, it is not necessarily better than another college. However, this gives you an idea of the SAT score you need to get into the best colleges in America.

How to prepare for the new SAT and the SAT subject tests

There are many ways that a student can prepare for the SAT. The most common are alone, with a tutor, or with an SAT group class.

I have tried all 3 methods, so perhaps my experiences with preparing for the SAT will shed some light on the best ways to increase your score.

First off, I thought I could prepare for the SAT alone, but boy was I wrong! I spent an entire summer (between 10th and 11th grade) studying by myself with the collegeboard SAT guide, and the princeton review guide. My score went up by about 30 points, but it could just be due to random fluctuations. Thus, I highly discourage studying for the new SAT alone, since the results will most likely be limited, and you will only waste your time.

The next way lots of people get ready for the SAT is by taking a prep class, such as those given by The Princeton Review and Kaplan in Los Angeles. You can probably find SAT prep classes in other cities than LA, but might have to do a little more driving. I personally went for the Princeton Review class, which cost me about $1500 total. My experiences were not ALL that bad, but for the most part, I saw the class as a waste of time. Strangely enough, my score actually went down after taking this class. The SAT prep class at princeton review was very unfocused, and the teacher didn't exactly know the SAT as well as he should have. I doubt the Kaplan one in Los Angeles is any better, as some of my friends later told me it was worthless. Also I felt like I wasn't receiving individual attention for my SAT problems since the class had 20 other people in it. This brings me to my next point, and what I consider to be the best way to prepare for the SAT.

If you really want to increase your score, with a minimal amount of time (but not money), you should get 1 on 1 SAT tutoring. This method worked best for me, since the tutor focuses the attention on only ONE student (YOU!). As a warning, the prices can vary greatly for Los Angeles SAT tutoring, as the big companies can charge several hundred dollars an hour. You can find a nice comparison of SAT tutoring in Los Angeles here. Keep in mind that the higher the price, the quality of tutoring is not necessarily better. For example, tutorfox offers the lowest price tutoring of the three test prep companies, and employs all UCLA students who scored above 2200, while princeton review and Kaplan charge much more money, and their SAT tutors can sometimes be in their 30s.

Once again, I strongly recommend tutoring when it comes to preparing for the SAT.

SAT vs. ACT

Many high school students wonder whether they should take either the SAT or ACT, or both. I personally recommend taking a practice test of each, and see which one you score higher on.
You can take a free SAT practice test made by the collegeboard here: free SAT practice test

You can also take a free ACT practice test here

In actuality, it is very likely that your SAT or ACT score will be about the same when converted. If you take the ACT, and want to convert your score to the new SAT, simply use this ACT to SAT score converter.

The other consideration when deciding between taking the SAT or ACT is that some colleges do not accept both (namely the ACT). There are many "elite" colleges which only accept the new SAT, so it is safer to only take the SAT in this case. In the midwest US, it is best to take the ACT however. For westcoast (california and washington) and eastcoast (all ivy league schools) colleges prefer the SAT, since more students applying to those schools submit solely SAT scores.

ALL in all, it is safer to take the New SAT, however the choice depends on the college you wish to apply to, as well as whichever you score higher in a practice test.

Is the SAT linked with IQ scores?

Whether or not the SAT and IQ tests are linked is a valid question. Moreover, does knowing your score for one of the two necessarily give you the score for the other? Studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between SAT and IQ scores. Now of course there are general trendlines that can be used to convert SAT to IQ score, and vice versa. But I personally doubt the accuracy. For instance, my SAT score of 2300 would convert to an IQ of about 150 (using the table found on: http://www.iqcomparisonsite.com/SATIQ.aspx), however when I was 7, I took an IQ test, and scored 130. This might mean that I got smarter bebtween the time I took the IQ and SAT tests. It is still an interesting question.

Then again, one has to consider what the IQ and new SAT really test. The latter tests general high school knowledge in the areas of math, writing, and critical reading, while the former tests logic and especially quickness in solving puzzles.

SAT Subject Tests

Many people wonder what the right SAT subject tests to take are. There are quite a few to choose from, so it is very important to choose the right subject test. The collegeboard offers SAT subject tests in English Literature, History, Social Studies, U.S. History, World History, Mathematics Level 1, Mathematics Level 2, Biology E/M, Chemistry, Physics, Chinese with Listening, French, German, Spanish, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Japanese, and Korean.

So now the question arises, which subject test should you take? If you are good at math, I recommend you take the math II subject test. 
If you are a science person, you should take the SAT in either physics, chemistry, or biology, depending on which one you are better at. If you are an english person, consider taking the SAT in literature. It is very similar to the SAT I critical reading section. If you are good at history, consider taking the SAT subject test in World History, or US History.

The next question is how many tests should you take? The answer depends on the college you want to apply to. 
The best colleges usually require at least 2, although some colleges (ivy league) require you to report 3 SAT subject tests. In this case you should pick 3 subject tests in which you will score highest in.

How should you study for the SAT subject tests? The best way is with the official collegeboard SAT subject tests book.

Also good is the princeton review book

Tests you need to take to go to college

I thought I would start off my first post with one of the most common question asked by 11th and 12th grade high school students: What standardized tests do I need to take in high school in order to get into college?

The answer depends upon which college you want to attend. If you wish to attend a community college, you do not have to take any tests, but it certainly helps if you have passed the high school exit exam. For most colleges, including UC (University of California college system) including UCLA, UCB, and UCSD, and the most coveted Ivy League schools, you will need to take at least 2 SAT subject tests, and either the New SAT 1 Reasoning test or the ACT. 

Now the question is which test should you take, the SAT I, or the ACT? Once again it depends on the college you want to go to. In general, colleges prefer the SAT since more people apply with SAT scores, thus the SAT is a more reliable standard of measurement for colleges. The ACT has a larger prevalence in colleges in the midwest, but SAT is more popular among east coast colleges (including ivy league schools), and the UC system.