The next few years will be full of changes for college-bound high school students because many of the exams that these students take will be revised – if not completely redesigned!
Changes at ACT, Inc.
ACT, Inc. is making many changes to their tests. First up is the elimination of the PLAN and EXPLORE tests, which are part of the ACT line of assessments. Both PLAN and EXPLORE will be replaced with ACT, Inc.’s Aspire tests. Aspire will be offered to students in grades 3 through 11; the tests are aligned to the new Common Core standards and are designed to evaluate student progress based on these standards.
But the bigger change for most students will be the new digital ACT, which rolls out in 2015. Starting in Spring of 2015, students who take the ACT will have the option to take the exam by computer. The questions are supposed to provide a more “hands on” testing experience, but the content of the exam will remain unchanged.
This change should not affect students in the graduating classes of 2013, 2014, and 2015, but those in the class of 2016 and beyond should be prepared for bumps in the road. Many states have come across stumbling blocks as they pilot computer-based assessments in the classroom, so it is likely that ACT, Inc. will also have some wrinkles to iron out in the first few months of the newly digitized exam.
Changes at the College Board
Competition between the College Board and ACT, Inc. has never been higher, so the relationship between the two testing behemoths is worth watching. In an attempt to remain competitive, the College Board is overhauling several of their biggest tests, including the PSAT, the SAT, and many AP exams.
The New PSAT and SAT
Last year, the College Board announced a redesign of the SAT, which was supposed to roll out in 2015. They have since revised that date to 2016, so the new SAT won’t affect students graduating in 2013, 2014, 2015, or (likely) 2016. But students graduating in 2017 and beyond must be prepared to face a new beast when sitting for the SAT.
As with past revisions to the SAT, industry experts expect that a revised PSAT that will be administered in 2015 will reflect some of the changes coming to the newly redesigned SAT. Students who will take the new SAT should certainly take the revised PSAT in 2015 to prepare for the changes.
There has been little official information announced regarding the specific changes to the SAT, but comments by top College Board officials shed some light on the areas most likely to change.
Vocabulary
David Coleman, the President of the College Board and the face of the revamped SAT, doesn’t like the term “SAT word”. In past speeches, he has noted that the vocabulary tested on the SAT is notorious (uh oh, I just used an SAT word) for being useless in day-to-day life. (That’s an idea that’s up for debate, as noted in this NPR piece.) Coleman believes that students should focus on learning meaningful vocabulary that will serve them well in future careers:
I think when you think about vocabulary on exams, you know, how SAT words are famous as the words you will never use again? You know, you study them in high school and you’re like, gosh, I’ve never seen this before, and I probably never shall. Why wouldn’t it be the opposite? Why wouldn’t you have a body of language on the SAT that’s the words you most need to know and be ready to use again and again? Words like transform, deliberate, hypothesis, right?
Based on Coleman’s past speeches, it seems likely that the vocabulary section will see some pretty massive changes – both to the words being tested and the ways in which they are tested. The 2015 PSAT should provide clues about the details of these changes.
Writing
Fun fact: In my time at 宝博体育 Education, I’ve graded a lot of SAT practice essays. I hate doing it because the current grading standards for SAT essays force me to reward bad writing practices and flawed logic. This is the same issue that Coleman has with the SAT essay:
So if you look at the way the SAT assessment is designed, when you write an essay even if it’s an opinion piece, there’s no source information given to you. So in other words, you write like what your opinion is on a subject, but there’s no fact on the table. So a friend of mine tutors in Hong Kong, and she was asked by here Hong Kong students, where do you get the examples for the essay? She said, you know, it’s the American way, you make them up. Now I’m all for creativity and innovation, but I don’t think that’s quite the creativity we want to inspire in a generation of youth. That is, if writing is to be ready for the demands of career and college, it must be precise, it must be accurate, it must draw upon evidence. Now I think that is warranted by tons of information we see from surveys of college professors, from evidence we have from other sources, so I think there is good reason to think about a design of SAT where rather than kids just writing an essay, there’s source material that they’re analyzing.
This has been a theme in Coleman’s comments on the revamped SAT. Moreover, colleges themselves dislike the SAT writing section with many pointedly ignoring writing scores and only utilizing reading and math scores as admission tools. Given the widespread disdain for the SAT essay, it’s safe to assume that this part of the test will undergo drastic changes. In the end, it may end up looking more like the dreaded AP History DBQ (Document-Based Question), where students are provided with documents on which to base their arguments in response to a given prompt.
Math
Less has been said regarding the math section, but it likely isn’t immune to changes. Comments from Coleman and other College Board representatives suggest that the math section will have a greater focus on core math concepts, such as proportional reasoning, linear equations, and linear functions. The types of questions may also change to place a strong emphasis on the analysis and application of those concepts, suggesting that students might see more word problems on the new SAT.
Ongoing Changes to AP Exams
Science: Biology, Chemistry, and Physics
Last year, the newly revised AP Biology exam took effect, shocking many students and teachers with its deceptive ease. Although both students and teachers reported the perception that the new exam was far easier than past AP exams, scores did not support this conclusion. On the multiple choice section, students averaged 61% correct, down from 63% the year before. The score distribution also changed drastically, with far fewer students earning 5’s and far more students earning 3’s and 4’s than previous years.
This year, the newly revised AP Chemistry exam takes effect, and it’s likely that we will see similar results. Current AP Chem students should take a lesson from last year’s AP Bio students – even if the exam seems easy, it probably isn’t. Some advice for AP Chemistry students:
Don’t rely on old prep books because they won’t accurately reflect the new test.
Use the College Board’s materials to study – they are the only people who know for sure what the new test will be like!
As always, don’t cram! Prepare early!
Next year, AP Physics gets its turn at bat. The AP Physics changes will likely be even more substantial because even the course names are changing to AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2.
Others
This year, AP Spanish will also see changes. Next year, AP US History – one of the most commonly taken of the AP exams – will be revised. In 2015-16, AP Art History and AP European History will have their turn.
Why You Should Take SAT Subject Tests NOW
COLLEGE ADMISSIONSEffective 2021, SAT Subject Tests are no longer offered by the College Board. To show subject matter expertise, consider taking AP exams instead.
College-bound students are inundated with acronyms – PSAT, SAT, ACT, AP. There are literally dozens of tests that you might take on your road to college, and the most often overlooked tests are SAT Subject Tests. But you should take them. And you should take them in June. (There are still a few days left for late registration!)
Most colleges don’t require applicants to submit SAT Subject Tests, which is why these are among the least commonly taken of all of the standardized tests administered to college-bound students. But the very fact that these tests are uncommon is one reason why you should consider taking them.
First, let’s figure out if you HAVE to take them. This chart shows various colleges’ policies towards SAT Subject Tests. This chart is not comprehensive, so you should still double check with your potential colleges before making a final decision!
Let’s take a moment to talk about these policies. As you can see, various colleges have vastly differing policies regarding Subject Tests. Some require them, some recommend them, some use them only for placement purposes, and others let you submit ACT scores instead of taking Subject Tests.
It goes without saying that if you plan to apply to a school that requires Subject Tests, you have to take them. Do your research so that you know whether the school requires a specific test or if you get to choose which tests to take.
If a school you hope to apply to recommends or encourages Subject Tests, you should treat that as a requirement. If the school is telling you that they would like you to take those tests, your best bet is to submit Subject Test scores.
But here’s the fun part: Even if the colleges you want to apply to don’t require, recommend, or encourage Subject Tests, it might be a good idea to take them anyway.
Why Take Subject Tests Anyway?
Show off your strengths.
SAT Subject Tests offer a great chance to showcase your strengths in specific subject areas. Your grades are more important, but grades can be subjective and differ greatly from one school to the next. These tests allow colleges to make apples to apples comparisons between students. So if Chemistry is your thing and you want to show that knowledge off, take the Chemistry Subject Test (or Spanish, or World History, or whatever your particular thing is).
Stand out of the crowd.
Selective schools are overwhelmed with applicants who have great grades and test scores, so for students applying to these schools, it’s all about making yourself stand out. Since these tests aren’t as common as AP exams or the ACT, submitting a few great Subject Test scores could help add dimension and interest to your application.
IB students should definitely consider these tests.
The IB program is among the most challenging academic programs available, but it isn’t as widely known or understood as the AP program. Since a lot of colleges aren’t quite sure how to compare IB students to other students, supplementing your IB scores with SAT Subject Tests is a good idea. This helps colleges make apples to apples comparisons between IB students and AP students.
Homeschooled? Take these tests.
Colleges have trouble comparing homeschooled students to other applicants because their transcripts tend to be so different. By submitting some SAT Subject Test scores, you can help the college by providing a standardized measurement of your skills in certain subject areas.
Got a C? Help make up for it with Subject Tests.
Did you get a C in freshman bio? Or maybe you didn’t do so hot in precalc. Whatever the case, a strong SAT Subject Test score can help to offset a less than perfect grade. A stellar score won’t totally erase that bad grade, but it will show colleges that you managed to bone up on your weakest subject area in order to get a good test score.
Why Take Subject Tests in June?
Subject Tests are offered on all SAT test dates, so you have several dates to choose from. We strongly suggest that you take these tests in June for a few reasons:
AP exams are over.
You spent weeks – if not months – prepping for those AP exams. Now that the stress of AP weeks is over, why not turn all that newfound knowledge into some good Subject Test scores? Subject Tests aren’t exactly like AP exams, but these tests typically have a lot of overlap in any given subject area. So if you prepped properly for your AP exams, you’ve already done the legwork for Subject Tests.
The material is fresh in your mind.
It’s a good idea to take the Subject Tests at the end of the school year in which you studied a particular subject. So if you took Biology in 9th grade, the best time to take the Biology Subject Test would be in June of your 9th grade year. (Didn’t take the tests at the right time? You can always take a refresher course – many online resources are available and 宝博体育 would be more than happy to help!)
Get it out of the way.
Summer is upon us. You’ve got plenty to do this summer – from internships and summer programs to prepping for the ACT or SAT to babysitting your annoying little brother. You don’t want to be studying for SAT Subject Tests, too. Get it out of the way now, at the beginning of the summer, so that you can use your summer more productively (and, hey, maybe have some fun, too).
AP Exam Policies: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities
TEST PREPLast year, some 200 students in Millbrae, California were incredibly disappointed to learn that their hard-earned AP scores had been invalidated. The students took their AP exams at Mills High School, and were seated at round tables. Unbeknownst to most of the students (and, perhaps, some of the exam administrators), these round tables would soon become a massive problem. AP exam administration policies demand that students be seated a certain distance away from one another and that students not face each other, a policy which cannot possibly be met in a room with round tables. The seating discrepancy was reported anonymously to Educational Testing Service (ETS) and some 600 test scores for about 200 students were invalidated.
So what happened to those unfortunate Millbrae students? The College Board offered to allow the students to retake the exams at no extra charge. In August. A full 3 months after the students originally sat for their AP exams.
The problem with this solution was twofold. First, the lengthy delay between the original test date and the rescheduled exam put these students at a disadvantage compared to other test takers. Imagine spending weeks — if not months — preparing for your AP exams only to be told weeks after the exam that you’ll have to do it all over again. Second, many of these students were graduated seniors heading off to college, which meant that many affected students would either receive their new scores too late to submit them to their chosen colleges or would be unable to take the rescheduled exam at all because they would already be on a college campus.
Needless to say, you don’t want such a situation to happen to you. It’s important to know your rights and responsibilities when taking AP exams so that you can avoid any unpleasant surprises later on.
AP Exam Policies
Exams must be administered at the correct date and time. Proctors may delay the exam administration by no more than one hour, and an exam may never begin early.
You may not look at the exam materials before you are told to. You may not remove ANY exam materials — including your own notes — from the testing room.
You may not consult any resources during your breaks. No textbooks, notes, teachers, other students, or ANYTHING else that might possibly have information pertaining to the exam. You also may not leave the building during a break.
Do NOT discuss ANY of the questions on the exam, even after you’ve taken the test. This includes posting questions/exam details online. If you tweet about your exam and you are caught, your scores may be cancelled — don’t take the risk! (Exception: The College Board releases some free-response questions online two days after the exam is administered; these are publicly available and may therefore be discussed.)
“Testing Irregularities”
This is the semi-scary part. The Bulletin for AP Students and Parents states (emphasis added):
[Testing irregularities] include, but are not limited to, administrative errors (e.g., improper timing, improper seating, improper proctoring, defective materials, defective equipment or the failure of test administration personnel of the school to comply with test administration policies or procedures) and disruptions of exam administrations…The College Board is solely responsible for determining whether testing irregularities have occurred, and its decisions are final. When testing irregularities occur, the College Board may decline to score the exams of one or more students, and it may cancel the scores of one or more students when it determines that such actions are required to protect the integrity of the exam. The College Board may do so whether or not the affected students caused the testing irregularities, benefited from them or engaged in misconduct.
This is the policy that tripped up those unfortunate Millbrae students. It’s important to note that the College Board essentially has complete control over your AP exam scores; even students who did nothing wrong and gained no advantage during the exam can suffer the consequences of someone else’s mistake.
How Can You Protect Yourself?
First, you can familiarize yourself with the administration instructions that your proctor is supposed to follow. You can find them on the College Board’s website here. If you are at all worried that a policy isn’t being followed, you may refuse to take the exam and contact the Office of Testing Integrity to arrange to take an alternate exam. This isn’t a perfect solution, but it may save you from the kinds of delays those Millbrae students experienced.
What Is The PSAT And Why Should Your Child Take It?
PSAT/NMSQT, TEST PREPThe PSAT is offered to high school students each October. In many parts of the country, students in 9th through 11th grade are able to register for the test, but the PSAT is particularly important for high school juniors. All 11thgrade students who take the PSAT are automatically entered to compete for the National Merit Scholarship, a prestigious award that gives students a competitive edge in the college admissions process.
What is the National Merit Scholarship?
The National Merit Scholarship is awarded to just 0.6% of eligible students. Because so few students receive this scholarship, the award is highly prestigious and colleges often aggressively seek National Merit Scholars. In fact, students who earn semi-finalist or finalist standing can expect to be actively pursued by colleges and may even be offered additional financial aid or other incentives to attend a particular school.
The monetary amount varies depending on the type of scholarship won. The National Merit Scholarship is a one-time payment of $2,500, but students also compete for corporate- and school-sponsored scholarships that can range from $500 to $10,000.
How many people win The National Merit Scholarship?
Each year, roughly 1.5 million students who take the PSAT qualify to compete for the National Merit Scholarship. Many of these students take the test merely because it is offered at their school and have no intention of actually competing for the scholarship, so this number can be somewhat misleading.
Of the 1.5 million students who are entered into the competition, 50,000 are identified as High Scorers. Reaching this level of the competition is valuable in college admissions – even if a student does not move higher in the competition, being named a High Scorer carries prestige.
16,000 High Scorers are named Semifinalists. These students must meet certain requirements – such as being on track to graduate with a college preparatory diploma – in order to move on to Finalist standing. Roughly 90% of Semifinalists become Finalists, and about half of all Finalists ultimately win one of the available scholarships.
What score do I need to win?
High Scorers are identified based solely on their PSAT scores. The cut-off scores vary from state to state and from year to year, but you should expect to need at least a 210 (out of 240) in order to reach High Scorer status. Beyond this point in the competition, judges also consider factors such as the student’s academic record.
Who wins National Merit Scholarships?
Judges consider student test scores, academic records, essays, and extracurricular activities in order to select winners. The winners are those students who are believed to have the greatest potential for success in rigorous college studies.
How can my child get ahead?
Practice, practice, practice! One of the best ways of preparing for any standardized test is to take many practice tests. This helps students to familiarize themselves with the test format and the types of questions that will be asked, helping to assuage testing anxiety while students review the necessary material for the test.
If your school will allow sophomores to take the PSAT, it is a good idea for your child to take the test in 10th grade. This will allow your child to take a realistic practice test without the pressure of competing for the National Merit Scholarship. Once the scores are in, you’ll have an idea of how much work your child needs to do in order to be competitive on the PSAT the following year – and you’ll have an entire year left to prepare!
If your child is unsure of how to prepare for this test, seems unable to improve his scores on his own, or needs to improve his scores by 20 or more points, consider seeking outside help. 宝博体育 Education test prep can often help students master the fundamental skills necessary to score well on the PSAT.
How Changes to the ACT and SAT Will Affect You
TEST PREPThe next few years will be full of changes for college-bound high school students because many of the exams that these students take will be revised – if not completely redesigned!
Changes at ACT, Inc.
ACT, Inc. is making many changes to their tests. First up is the elimination of the PLAN and EXPLORE tests, which are part of the ACT line of assessments. Both PLAN and EXPLORE will be replaced with ACT, Inc.’s Aspire tests. Aspire will be offered to students in grades 3 through 11; the tests are aligned to the new Common Core standards and are designed to evaluate student progress based on these standards.
But the bigger change for most students will be the new digital ACT, which rolls out in 2015. Starting in Spring of 2015, students who take the ACT will have the option to take the exam by computer. The questions are supposed to provide a more “hands on” testing experience, but the content of the exam will remain unchanged.
This change should not affect students in the graduating classes of 2013, 2014, and 2015, but those in the class of 2016 and beyond should be prepared for bumps in the road. Many states have come across stumbling blocks as they pilot computer-based assessments in the classroom, so it is likely that ACT, Inc. will also have some wrinkles to iron out in the first few months of the newly digitized exam.
Changes at the College Board
Competition between the College Board and ACT, Inc. has never been higher, so the relationship between the two testing behemoths is worth watching. In an attempt to remain competitive, the College Board is overhauling several of their biggest tests, including the PSAT, the SAT, and many AP exams.
The New PSAT and SAT
Last year, the College Board announced a redesign of the SAT, which was supposed to roll out in 2015. They have since revised that date to 2016, so the new SAT won’t affect students graduating in 2013, 2014, 2015, or (likely) 2016. But students graduating in 2017 and beyond must be prepared to face a new beast when sitting for the SAT.
As with past revisions to the SAT, industry experts expect that a revised PSAT that will be administered in 2015 will reflect some of the changes coming to the newly redesigned SAT. Students who will take the new SAT should certainly take the revised PSAT in 2015 to prepare for the changes.
There has been little official information announced regarding the specific changes to the SAT, but comments by top College Board officials shed some light on the areas most likely to change.
Vocabulary
David Coleman, the President of the College Board and the face of the revamped SAT, doesn’t like the term “SAT word”. In past speeches, he has noted that the vocabulary tested on the SAT is notorious (uh oh, I just used an SAT word) for being useless in day-to-day life. (That’s an idea that’s up for debate, as noted in this NPR piece.) Coleman believes that students should focus on learning meaningful vocabulary that will serve them well in future careers:
I think when you think about vocabulary on exams, you know, how SAT words are famous as the words you will never use again? You know, you study them in high school and you’re like, gosh, I’ve never seen this before, and I probably never shall. Why wouldn’t it be the opposite? Why wouldn’t you have a body of language on the SAT that’s the words you most need to know and be ready to use again and again? Words like transform, deliberate, hypothesis, right?
Based on Coleman’s past speeches, it seems likely that the vocabulary section will see some pretty massive changes – both to the words being tested and the ways in which they are tested. The 2015 PSAT should provide clues about the details of these changes.
Writing
Fun fact: In my time at 宝博体育 Education, I’ve graded a lot of SAT practice essays. I hate doing it because the current grading standards for SAT essays force me to reward bad writing practices and flawed logic. This is the same issue that Coleman has with the SAT essay:
So if you look at the way the SAT assessment is designed, when you write an essay even if it’s an opinion piece, there’s no source information given to you. So in other words, you write like what your opinion is on a subject, but there’s no fact on the table. So a friend of mine tutors in Hong Kong, and she was asked by here Hong Kong students, where do you get the examples for the essay? She said, you know, it’s the American way, you make them up. Now I’m all for creativity and innovation, but I don’t think that’s quite the creativity we want to inspire in a generation of youth. That is, if writing is to be ready for the demands of career and college, it must be precise, it must be accurate, it must draw upon evidence. Now I think that is warranted by tons of information we see from surveys of college professors, from evidence we have from other sources, so I think there is good reason to think about a design of SAT where rather than kids just writing an essay, there’s source material that they’re analyzing.
This has been a theme in Coleman’s comments on the revamped SAT. Moreover, colleges themselves dislike the SAT writing section with many pointedly ignoring writing scores and only utilizing reading and math scores as admission tools. Given the widespread disdain for the SAT essay, it’s safe to assume that this part of the test will undergo drastic changes. In the end, it may end up looking more like the dreaded AP History DBQ (Document-Based Question), where students are provided with documents on which to base their arguments in response to a given prompt.
Math
Less has been said regarding the math section, but it likely isn’t immune to changes. Comments from Coleman and other College Board representatives suggest that the math section will have a greater focus on core math concepts, such as proportional reasoning, linear equations, and linear functions. The types of questions may also change to place a strong emphasis on the analysis and application of those concepts, suggesting that students might see more word problems on the new SAT.
Ongoing Changes to AP Exams
Science: Biology, Chemistry, and Physics
Last year, the newly revised AP Biology exam took effect, shocking many students and teachers with its deceptive ease. Although both students and teachers reported the perception that the new exam was far easier than past AP exams, scores did not support this conclusion. On the multiple choice section, students averaged 61% correct, down from 63% the year before. The score distribution also changed drastically, with far fewer students earning 5’s and far more students earning 3’s and 4’s than previous years.
This year, the newly revised AP Chemistry exam takes effect, and it’s likely that we will see similar results. Current AP Chem students should take a lesson from last year’s AP Bio students – even if the exam seems easy, it probably isn’t. Some advice for AP Chemistry students:
Don’t rely on old prep books because they won’t accurately reflect the new test.
Use the College Board’s materials to study – they are the only people who know for sure what the new test will be like!
As always, don’t cram! Prepare early!
Next year, AP Physics gets its turn at bat. The AP Physics changes will likely be even more substantial because even the course names are changing to AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2.
Others
This year, AP Spanish will also see changes. Next year, AP US History – one of the most commonly taken of the AP exams – will be revised. In 2015-16, AP Art History and AP European History will have their turn.
Turkey Day Quiz: Thanksgiving Fun Facts
MISCELLANEOUSTomorrow is Thanksgiving, and while we’ll all be off eating unhealthy quantities of turkey, we wanted to leave you with some Thanksgiving knowledge.
Before we get into our Turkey Day Quiz, there’s one question we’re dying to answer: Why does turkey make you sleepy?
This was a matter of some debate at 宝博体育 Education’s staff Thanksgiving last week. Common knowledge holds that turkey contains large amounts of Tryptophan, which helps the body produce serotonin, which helps you go to sleep.
But wait! Tryptophan is found in tons of foods, especially dairy and meat. In fact, turkey has LESS Tryptophan than most other meats. So if eating chicken (which has more Tryptophan) doesn’t make you sleepy, why should turkey?
Many doctors believe that it isn’t the Tryptophan in turkey that makes us sleepy. Instead, they say it’s simple overeating. Considering that Americans consumeupwards of 2,500 calories in just one meal on Thanksgiving, that makes a lot of sense. When your body has to digest a HUGE meal, it expends a great deal of energy on the simple process of digestion, leaving little energy for other things (you know, like being awake).
So, with that out of the way, on to the Turkey Day Quiz!
(Answers are available at the bottom of the page.)
1. We’ll start with a basic. In what year did the Pilgrims celebrate the first Thanksgiving?
A) 1492
B) 1571
C) 1621
D) 1652
2. Okay, let’s move on to Presidents. Who was the first President to declare a day of Thanksgiving?
A) George Washington
B) John Adams
C) Thomas Jefferson
D) Abraham Lincoln
3. Which President made Thanksgiving an official national holiday?
A) Andrew Jackson
B) James Madison
C) James Polk
D) Abraham Lincoln
4. Which President gave the first official stay of execution to a turkey?
A) Harry S. Truman
B) Teddy Roosevelt
C) George H.W. Bush
D) John F. Kennedy
5. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving Day from the last Thursday of November to the fourth Thursday of November. Why?
A) To avoid harsh winter weather during a busy travel season.
B) To ensure that the holiday wouldn’t interfere with Hanukkuh.
C) To extend the Christmas shopping season.
D) To appease the turkey and poultry industry.
6. Which Founding Father wanted the national bird to be the turkey?
A) John Adams
B) Benjamin Franklin
C) Samuel Adams
D) Button S. Gwinnett
7. When was the first annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
A) 1924
B) 1932
C) 1930
D) 1921
8. This year, the first day of Hanukkah will fall on Thanksgiving. When is the next year that the two holidays will overlap?
A) 2054
B) 2070
C) 2032
D) 2081
9. How many millions of turkeys will Americans eat on Thanksgiving?
A) 24
B) 51
C) 39
D) 46
10. How many people go shopping on Black Friday each year?
A) 87 million
B) 100 million
C) 170 million
D) 135 million
ANSWER KEY
1. C: The Pilgrims celebrated the First Thanksgiving in 1621. This is a disputed fact among historians. In fact, not to burst your bubble, but the Pilgrims didn’t even really land on Plymouth Rock.
2. A: George Washington declared a national day of Thanksgiving in 1789. Several other Presidents also proclaimed days of Thanksgiving, but it was by no means an annual holiday for the first few decades of the fledgling nation.
3. D: Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an annual national holiday in 1863, largely at the urging of Sarah Josepha Hale, authoress of Mary Had a Little Lamb.
4. C: George H.W. Bush gave the first official stay of execution to a turkey. This wasn’t the first time a president had given a turkey a reprieve (Harry S. Truman supposedly did, and JFK said his turkey was too small and sent it to fatten up), but it was the first time such a reprieve had been officially given. The Presidential Turkey Pardon has been an annual tradition ever since.
5. C: Yeah, thanks FDR. Most years, the fourth Thursday of November is the last Thursday, so it doesn’t affect us often. In 1939, at the tail end of the Great Depression, FDR felt that an extra week of shopping would help the economy. (Guess he couldn’t have predicted the madness that would become Black Friday.)
6. B: Ben Franklin didn’t want the national bird to be the bald eagle — he rooted for the turkey. To be fair, the turkey is native to North America and it does taste good. Better than eagle. (Or so I’ve heard…)
7. A: 1924. The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade also featured animals from the Central Park Zoo in lieu of giant Snoopy floats.
8. B: Hanukkah and Thanksgiving will not overlap again for another 57 years. By then, Black Friday will be in October.
9. D: Americans consume about 46 million turkeys each year. Don’t feel too sorry for the birds. They’re bred to grow so large that they can’t possibly live longer than about 2 years anyway. Might as well eat them.
10. D: Supposedly, an average of 135 million people go shopping on Black Friday each year. No wonder people get trampled to death. (I, personally, will be soundly asleep.)
College Football, Academics, and Affordability
MISCELLANEOUSDid you know that the anniversary of the first official intercollegiate football game was this week? On November 6, 1869, Rutgers beat Princeton in the first of a two-game matchup. Princeton beat Rutgers a week later. This was the birth of college football, a culture that has since become a sacrosanct part of the college experiences of millions of students.
I grew up in the South, where SEC football draws bigger crowds than NFL games. College football is a major attraction in all corners of the country, but no one takes their college teams more seriously than Southerners. I’m married to a Georgia Bulldogs fan; his family members are all Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets fans; my brother is a Florida Gators fan. These rival team allegiances make for some interesting family dinners.
The annual Georgia-Florida game was played this past weekend, a rival game that is anticipated with the same fervor and excitement as the Superbowl, so it’s little surprise that I have college football on the brain this week. (Side note: Go Bulldogs!) The time seems ripe for an examination of college football’s effects on other parts of the college experience: Academics and affordability.
At a time when student loan debt has reached record levels, college academics and affordability have become a central focus in education policy debates.
In the absence of federal or state policies mandating lower tuition, what could colleges do to improve affordability and the quality of academics? Well, unpopular as the idea may be, they could consider eliminating or cutting back on football programs. Football is like the third rail of higher education — untouchable. But to solve the problems in today’s higher education system, perhaps we must at least consider redefining football’s role in college life.
“But wait!” you say. “College football programs bring in millions of dollars to support their schools!”
This is a popular argument in favor of large-scale college athletic programs, specifically football and basketball. And it’s true that ticket sales and other revenue sources do bring in money for football programs. But in 2012 just 23 of 228 athletics departments at NCAA Division I schools made enough money to cover their expenses. Of that group, 16 received subsidies from some combination of school funds, government funds, and student fees. Rutgers, for instance, spent $28 million more than it generated in 2012. They bridged the gap with $18.5 million from the school and another $9.5 million in student fees.
These numbers are for athletic departments in general. Admittedly, football programs far outperform other sports programs in terms of revenue. But it’s worth noting that even the NCAA admits that 43% of football programs lose money. Of those that aren’t losing money, most barely break even; only a handful of the biggest football programs actually generate significant revenue.
College affordability is just one part of the new national attention on higher education. The quality of education at the nation’s colleges has come into question with increasing frequency. In fact, a 2011 study suggested that nearly half of college students show no significant improvement in critical thinking, reasoning, and writing halfway through college. To address this concern, some colleges are using a new standardized test called the Collegiate Learning Assessment Plus (CLA+) to give employers a measure of graduates’ abilities.
College athletes often get the short end of the stick in terms of academics. The lower admission standards for talented athletes are well documented, as are the methods that many colleges use to keep underperforming student athletes eligible to play sports. Even non-athletes at big football schools often take a hit to their academics, with some studies suggesting that non-athletes see lower GPAs during successful football seasons. After all, tailgating isn’t exactly designed to encourage studying…
Read more: If Student Athletes Were Judged by Academic Prowess
Read more: Why a Football School May Be Wrong for Your Child
There are many arguments in favor of big football programs.
School unity and school spirit are certainly improved through successful football programs. Name recognition from big football programs does indeed draw an increased applicant pool and the potential for big alumni donations. And big football programs undeniably help local businesses by drawing huge crowds for home games. But is this reason enough for colleges to continue to focus heavily on athletics at the expense of affordability and academics? What are your thoughts?
What to Do With Your Leftover Jack-O-Lanterns
MISCELLANEOUSHalloween is now behind us, and the country is littered with soon-to-be-rotting pumpkins. Before you toss your soggy jack-o-lantern in the trash, check out these alternatives:
If your pumpkin has been carved and sat out for more than 24 hours, don’t eat it.
But that doesn’t mean you have to throw it away.
Compost it: If you compost, toss it in your compost bin. Give it to a gardening neighbor. Or check to see if your town has a community compost heap.
Bury it: If you don’t compost, consider burying the pumpkin in your garden. It will decompose quickly and add valuable nutrients to your soil, which will make your plants very happy come spring.
Feed the birds: Break up the pumpkin and toss it in the woods or bushes where birds can easily get to it.
Use it as a Thanksgiving planter: Stick a potted plant in your jack-o-lantern, turn the carved side in to face the wall, and you’ve got a lovely harvest-themed planter (at least for a week or two).
If you painted instead of carving, the uses of your pumpkin are endless!
Obviously, you could remove and roast the pumpkin seeds – everyone loves roasted pumpkin seeds. But you could also use the flesh of the pumpkin to make pumpkin puree, a valuable ingredient with countless uses.
Why should you eat your old Halloween decorations? Pumpkins are amazingly healthy!
One cup of pumpkin contains more than 200% of the recommended intake of Vitamin A
Pumpkin is high in fiber, which has a host of health-boosting benefits
Pumpkin seeds have plant-based chemicals called phytosterols that reduce bad cholesterol
One cup of pumpkin provides roughly 1/3 of the recommended intake of Vitamin C
Pumpkin is high in protein, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids, which not only improve bone density but also boost brain function – eat pumpkin, be smarter!
Note: Don’t compost or bury painted pumpkins – the paint could be toxic to plants.
Pumpkin puree is a primary ingredient in almost any pumpkin recipe, from breads to pies to soups. Follow these steps to turn a painted pumpkin into pumpkin puree:
Cut the top of the pumpkin as if you were making a jack-o-lantern. Toss the top.
Cut the pumpkin in half from top to bottom. Use a spoon to scoop the raw seeds and pulp from the center – leave as much flesh inside the pumpkin as possible, even if it means leaving some stringy bits behind.
Rinse off the seeds and save them for roasting!
Cut the pieces of pumpkin until quarters. Place pieces on a baking sheet and roast at 250 degrees for 45 minutes or until the pumpkin flesh is tender.
Allow the pieces to cool. At this point, the peel should come right off, but you may need to use a knife to help scrape the flesh from the skin.
Put the cooked pumpkin into a food processor, mash it with a potato masher, process it through a food mill, or run it through a blender.
If the puree seems watery (most jack-o-lantern pumpkins have more water than a pie pumpkin), squeeze off the excess liquid through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth.
Storage: Put it in a freezer bag. Freeze it. Easy as pie!
Since pumpkin has so many nutrients, it’s a wonderful brain food. Be smarter with 宝博体育’s favorite pumpkin recipes!
Pumpkin-Cranberry Bread
This recipe can either make 2 loaves of pumpkin bread or roughly 18-24 pumpkin muffins!
Health tips: To make this recipe even healthier, substitute whole wheat flour instead of the all-purpose flour – the bread is so dense that you’ll never taste the difference. For added health benefits, add ¼ – ½ cup of milled flax seeds, which contain omega-3 fatty acids and tons of fiber. The use of honey and maple syrup as the primary sweeteners make this recipe healthier than standard pumpkin bread recipes because these sugar products are less processed and have added health benefits. Maple syrup contains several minerals, including iron, calcium, zinc, manganese and potassium. Honey has antibacterial properties and contains vitamins B-6 and C.
Dry Ingredients
3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
¾ cup dried cranberries (can substitute other dried fruit or nuts)
Wet Ingredients
2/3 cup water
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
4 eggs
1 cup honey
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
Grease and flour 2 loaf pans or 2 muffin tins. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl. Stir to break up any clumps and to evenly distribute all ingredients.
Combine all wet ingredients in separate bowl. Beat well.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until well combined.
Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake approximately 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Muffins will bake much faster, depending on the size of the tins used.)
Creamy Pumpkin Soup
Health tips: The onion and garlic in this recipe gives additional health benefits – they have tons of properties that help to prevent disease, infection, and illness. For an added health boost, consider making your own chicken stock; the vegetables and herbs in homemade stock offer greater health benefits than store bought. If calories are a concern, substitute 1% or 2% milk for the whole milk – the resulting soup will be a bit thinner and less creamy.
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups pumpkin puree
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup whole milk or half and half
1 tbsp. dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over med-hi heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté about 5 minutes or until tender.
Stir in the pumpkin puree, chicken broth, and thyme. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Puree soup in blender or food processor until smooth. Return to saucepan.
Add milk. Season to taste. Simmer another 5 minutes before serving.
Last Minute Tips for Writing a Better College Application Essay
COLLEGE ADMISSIONSWith just a few weeks to go before early action deadlines hit, we’ve been reviewing A LOT of college application essays. Some are great, some merely good, and some…well, some need quite a bit of work.
To help you get your college admission essay ready for submission, we’ve compiled some of the most common advice that we’ve been giving to our students this year. Hopefully this will help you polish those essays and get into your dream schools!
On Content
Avoid clichés. Check out our list of the most common essay topic clichés for help. When you’re brainstorming topics, look at your list of ideas and ask “Could someone else write an essay like this?” Your essay should be totally unique to you, so make sure that whatever topic you choose can be customized so that no one else could possibly write an essay like yours. Last minute tip: Even a slightly clichéd topic can be rendered unique through effective use of details. If you’re worried your essay is clichéd, be sure to include plenty of details that are unique to your experiences.
Address the prompt. The Common App got rid of the “topic of your choice” option for essays, and this seems to have thrown a lot of students for a loop. We’ve seen a large number of essays that have failed to adequately address the essay prompt, so be careful! Last minute tip: If you’ve finished your essay and you’re worried that you strayed from the prompt, consider looking at the other prompts to see if a different prompt might better suit the essay. Alternatively, consider only rewriting your conclusion; often, a new conclusion can make the entire essay suit the prompt better.
Don’t think too far outside of the box. Creativity is wonderful, but a lot of students lose clarity when they aim for creativity. If your reader can’t figure out what you’re trying to tell them, then no amount of creative storytelling will save the essay. Think outside the box, but make sure that you’re not so far outside the box that you can no longer even see the box. Last minute tip: Have someone you’re not close to read the essay to see if it makes sense. Friends, family members, and your teachers likely know you well and will be able to read between the lines, so they aren’t always the best sounding boards when you’re trying to be creative with your story.
You need a good beginning, middle, and end. Many of the essays we’ve seen this year have excellent introductions and go downhill from there. While a strong opening is vital to a good admission essay, the middle and end also have to be good. In fact, the conclusion is arguably among the most important parts of an essay because readers will always remember the first and last things they’ve read. Last minute tip: After you’ve arrived at what you believe is your final draft, read the entire essay again. Is the conclusion memorable, or does it read like a list of lessons you learned? Does the conclusion contain clichéd phrases (like “Suddenly I realized…” or “I discovered…”)?
The essay is not a resume. Your many accomplishments, awards, and honors should already be listed elsewhere in your application. The essay is the place to show your admission officer that you are a three-dimensional human being with emotional depth, intellectual curiosity, and an interesting personality. A list of the things you’ve done in high school doesn’t serve that purpose. It’s boring to read, it sounds narcissistic, and it tells the reader nothing about you as a person. Last minute tip: Make sure that no part of your essay reads like a list of accomplishments. Many students create otherwise strong essays that end with a conclusion that lists related accomplishments or skills – don’t do that!
On Style
Show, don’t tell. You need to share stories that illustrate the ideas within your essay rather than simply spelling everything out for the reader. So, for example, don’t say “I felt relieved when my speech was over.” Instead, show how you felt: “As my speech came to a close, my heart resumed its normal rate and blood flowed back into my cold, clammy hands.” Last minute tip: Read through your essay and highlight any phrases that could possibly be illustrated through story telling. Look for phrases like “I felt” or “I remembered”, as these are often phrases that indicate that the thought could be better shared through a story.
Use your senses. Bring your reader on a journey by including lots of sensory details and imagery. What did you see, hear, feel, smell, or taste? What details can you share with your reader to make your story more real? For example, instead of simply saying “The water in the pool was cold”, write “As my skin hit the freezing water, I could feel each individual goose bump form.” Last minute tip: Highlight descriptions within your essay. If you have any spare word count remaining, add sensory details to those descriptions to add dimension to your essay.
Don’t use ten words when five will do. One of the hardest parts of writing a strong college essay is knowing where to cut. Many students trim their essays simply to fit within the given word limits, but cutting unnecessary words and phrases is important regardless of how long or short the essay may be. Being able to share your story, thoughts, and feelings succinctly is the mark of a strong writer, which means that wordy or repetitive essays send a negative message to the reader. Last minute tip: Look for repeated words, phrases, or ideas and eliminate the repetition. Look for sentences or paragraphs that could be rephrased to share the same ideas in fewer words – without losing good descriptions.
Use sophisticated words. This does NOT mean that you should pack your essay with SAT words, but rather that your word choice needs to reflect sophistication and a strong vocabulary. Don’t use words like “stuff”, “things”, “good”, or “bad”. For example, the bully wasn’t mean; he was heartless, cruel, merciless, callous, malicious, vicious, or toxic. Last minute tip: When used correctly, the thesaurus is your best friend! Make certain that any alternate word choices truly suit your purposes (some pretty funny word choices can result from improper thesaurus use).
Don’t overuse “I”. Most college essays are first-person narratives, so it’s easy to fall into the trap of using “I” way too much. This comes off as unsophisticated and a bit narcissistic, plus it’s just bad writing. Last minute tip: Print your essay and highlight every time you used the word “I”. If those I’s appear too close together, go back and rephrase parts of the essay to reduce the use of “I”.
10 Grammar Mistakes That Hurt College Apps (and all other writing…)
COLLEGE ADMISSIONSBetween SAT practice essays, ACT practice essays, and college admission essays, 宝博体育 Education’s staff see a lot of student writing samples — and a lot of grammar mistakes! Sometimes the mistakes are forgivable — “accomodate” instead of “accommodate” (a mistake even some hotels make on their websites) — but others are much worse grammar offenses that make me long for a real life Grammar Police Unit.
I doubt we’ll be deputizing any Grammar Policemen any time soon, so we’ve decided to compile our list of common grammar mistakes that hurt. When you are submitting an essay for a timed test, your readers will be on the look out for simple mistakes AND THEY WILL JUDGE YOU. When you are submitting a college admission essay, college admission officers expect said essay to be perfect, and if it’s not, THEY WILL JUDGE YOU. When you are submitting a college application and you make silly grammar goofs, college admission officers WILL JUDGE YOU. And when you submit your resume for your first post-college position, you’d better believe those in charge of hiring WILL JUDGE YOU.
You see the trend.
So to avoid being judged too harshly, here are 10 grammar mistakes that can hurt your writing:
Affect vs. Effect:
With very few exceptions, AFFECT is a VERB and EFFECT is a NOUN.
99% of the time, affect is a verb. You affect your grade when you misused the word “affect”.
99% of the time, effect is a noun. Failing to master the difference between these two words had a negative effect on your grade.
Alot
It’s “a lot”. It’s never alot. Alot isn’t a word. “Allot” is a word, but it means “to distribute” or “to set aside”, as in “We allotted some funds for a new grammar class to teach people that ‘alot’ isn’t a word.”
Then vs. Than
Then and than have two different meanings and can change the meaning of the sentence!
For example: “I’d rather poke my eyes out then do another algebra problem.” This sentence means that you would like to do another algebra problem after you gouge out your own eyeballs. Perhaps you’re seeking the extra challenge of doing algebra in braille?
Another example: “Billy did his homework more quickly than he ate a banana.” Huh? It took Billy less time to do his homework than to eat a banana?
To vs. Too
Also two different words. Also two different meanings.
Too is an adverb. It modifies a verb, another adverb, or an adjective. “That meme is too funny.”
To is a preposition. It has several meanings, but it definitely doesn’t modify verbs, adverbs, or adjectives. “I went to the store.”
Confusing these words doesn’t really change the meaning of the sentence so much as it makes your reader question your grasp of word usage.
Apostrophe Abuse
You do not need an apostrophe to make a plural noun. (Okay, there are a few exceptions to this rule, just as there are with all English grammar rules, but they are very, very rare.) If you never, ever use an apostrophe to make a noun plural, you’ll be right 99.9% of the time.
So stop killing puppies.
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda
“Of” sounds like the contraction of “have”. That’s why is sounds like people are saying “could of”. But when you’re writing, it is ALWAYS “could have” or “could’ve” (which is not acceptable in formal writing, but is still better than using “of”), never “could of”. Never.
RandOm CapiTaliZation
Someone actually paid to have this sign made.
Capitalization is important. When you randomly capitalize things, you confuse your reader. Unless you live in the 18th century, when apparently capitalization rules did not yet exist, stop capitalizing random words. Proper nouns, titles, and the first word in a sentence. That’s it.
Its vs It’s
Okay, so this one is annoying. If all the nouns get to use apostrophes to be possessive, why doesn’t “it”? Because “it” isn’t a noun — it’s a pronoun, like “his” or “hers”. His and hers don’t get apostrophes and neither does its.
There, their, they’re
There: “Look over there! There is a panda bear wearing Lady Gaga’s meat dress!”
Their: “They lost their flying fish when it flew out of the window and was eaten by a flying pig.”
They’re: “They’re all wondering what is wrong with the animals around here.”
This is a grammar rule that we KNOW you were taught back in elementary school. When students make this mistake, it really makes readers wonder what other important elementary school lessons have been forgotten.
Your vs You’re
I see this one ALL THE TIME. It doesn’t make students look very good.
Your is possessive: “It’s your essay, so make sure you check the grammar.”
You’re is a contraction for “you are”: “You’re responsible for making sure these grammar goofs don’t appear on your college applications!”