Hammer Prep

How to Build a College List: 10 Easy Steps

Andrea Scalero — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 22:20:29 +0000

With nearly 4,000 universities in the United States alone, building a college list can be an overwhelming task for many high school students. Luckily, we have compiled a list of the top 10 factors to consider when building a college list, along with some useful resources!

Location
Just like in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location! You’re going to live where you go to college for at least 4 years (maybe longer if you get a job or do a joint graduate program). You deserve to be happy for those 4 years. Making a list of places you’d love to live, like to live, and refuse to live can help you narrow down the scope of your search. Keep in mind things like access to public transportation, proximity to airports, and weather conditions throughout the year when considering locations for your future college.

Size
Some people love the idea of getting lost in a crowd, while others may feel anxious when thinking about large groups of people. Size is another factor to consider when building your college list and could help you significantly narrow your search. There are pros and cons to different-sized colleges. In general, smaller colleges allow students more opportunities to connect with professors and other students but may have limited resources for internships and research experience. Larger colleges have extensive resources but may have larger class sizes and fewer opportunities for personal connections.

Prestige
Let’s be honest. There is something to be said for the “name brand” appeal of certain colleges. Harvard, Yale, Columbia. Some students dream of attending Ivy League colleges. Whether it’s bragging rights or the realization that your hard work in high school paid off, it is worth considering whether or not the reputation of a college is truly important to you. For college rankings, check out US News.

Programs
Have you developed a strong interest during your time in high school that you’d like to pursue in college? If so, you may want to consider the strength of that particular program when building your college list. If you love computer science, look for schools with especially reputable programs for coding. If you want to be a doctor, start searching for undergraduate programs with high success rates for medical school acceptances. While tons of universities are strong in many different areas, you may want to consider universities that are especially well-known for the program or major you like. But don’t worry. If there aren’t any particular programs or majors that interest you yet, there are plenty of other things you can use to guide you when building your list!

Graduation Rate
A strong factor to consider when deciding whether or not to apply to a college should be the overall graduation rate of the university. In general, universities with high graduation rates (anything above 70% would be considered on the higher end) are doing something (probably a lot of things) right. Their students are happy—at least happy enough to stay and not transfer schools—and completing their degrees in a timely manner. Universities with high graduation rates have cultivated relatively happy and successful students, so this is definitely worth thinking about when choosing colleges to apply to.

Cost
Attending a 4-year university in the United States is quite an expensive undertaking. It is reasonable to consider the cost of certain universities when building your list. If cost is a significant factor for you and your family, consider researching public in-state universities. You may also want to consider universities that give merit scholarships for certain GPAs and test scores. It is a good idea to research these things ahead of time so you know what you need to do in school and on standardized tests to be eligible for merit scholarships. Fun Fact: if you have dual citizenship with Canada, you are eligible for “resident” tuition at many Canadian universities.

Social Aspects
Do you like attending sporting events? Have you always dreamed of rushing a sorority or fraternity? Do you want to attend a college where everyone is participating in the same events each week? The social aspects of a college—football games, Greek life, strong on-campus community events—can help be a deciding factor for you in regards to which schools you might want to attend. If you’re into sports, look at D1 universities. If you like Greek life, check out this post from Niche.

Balance
Life is all about balance, and so is your college list! It’s important to have a good mix of schools that are incredibly selective, somewhat selective, and less selective. You should reach for some stars but still have a safety net. If your college list is too heavily skewed in one direction, you haven’t found balance yet. The best way to decide how selective a school is for you is to look at a combination of factors: overall acceptance rate, acceptance rate for your particular major, and average GPA/standardized test scores for accepted students. You should, ideally, have an even number of schools that would be considered high, medium, and low in terms of how selective they are.

Values
Opposites mostly only attract in movies and romance books. In real life, most of us like to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who value similar things as us. This means that considering the values a college community has may be an important factor for you when deciding where you’d like to spend the next 4 years. Start with the basics and think about if you consider yourself more conservative or liberal and go from there. Reddit has great threads that can give you some insight from actual students at the university in regards to the values most of the students have/share.

“Feel”
Sometimes, when you know…you know. Many of my students have ultimately made decisions about which college they would attend based on a “gut feeling” they felt when on campus. There’s nothing wrong with following your gut! If you have the opportunity to visit college campuses when students are present, it’s a great idea to take advantage of this! You never know when a college will surprise you.

Ultimately, building a college list can be a drawn out and long process. Get help when you need it! Click here to have an expert review your list or to ask questions.

The post How to Build a College List: 10 Easy Steps appeared first on Hammer Prep.

Reading Comprehension for ACT and SAT: 5 Steps to Improve Your Score

Andrew Hemmerich — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 21:30:11 +0000

While this reading comprehension plan works for all SAT and ACT student levels, it is especially geared towards students starting below 450 or 20. We’ve helped many students push through the 550 SAT and 24 ACT threshold over the years, but it’s never easy. Reading is a skill and most students scoring below 500 SAT and 22 ACT, haven’t logged the practice hours. While there is not a surefire way to boost a reading score, the following plan has worked for many of Hammer Prep’s students. You must follow it exactly as stated below.

Step 1 – Acknowledge that reading is a skill and demands daily practice. The more you’ve avoided reading, the more work you have to do starting today.

Step 2 – Don’t make excuses. Again, reading is a skill that requires constant practice.

Step 3 – Keep score. Give yourself 1 point for each reading passage and 1 point for every 5 words you learn.

Step 4 – Read one passage per day. Establish a training schedule. We encourage our SAT and ACT students to subscribe to www.delanceyplace.com and read the daily post. It takes 5-10 minutes per day. We also encourage you to pull from the most popular articles at www.nytimes.com and www.wsj.com.

Step 5 – Learn 14 new words per week (that’s 2 each day).We provide our students with a word list, as well as encourage them to add words from daily reading to the list. A simple Google search for “SAT words” will provide more than enough to start with.

Step 6 – Understand that improvement will take several months, but the return is lifelong. Stick with it!

Step 7 – Avoid these Common Mistakes:

Don’t read to memorize, which is how most students read for school.
Don’t clump all of your reading practice into 1 or 2 days. Professionals practice every day for a reason!
Don’t create flashcards and forget to study them.

Step 8 – Congratulate yourself after every 20 points. Target the century mark: 100 points.

We’ve found that students who stick to a reading training program for at least 3 months experience huge point gains. If you’d an expert to build a custom reading program for you, contact us to schedule a free consultation.

The post Reading Comprehension for ACT and SAT: 5 Steps to Improve Your Score appeared first on Hammer Prep.

Should I take the ACT or SAT again this year?

Andrew Hemmerich — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 21:19:45 +0000

After you take the SAT or ACT, you wait for agonizing days until the scores come back… and then what? It’s hard to decide whether or not to take the SAT over again, and that’s not even considering the opportunity cost of giving up your Saturday morning of cereal and cartoons.

So, do you need to retake the SAT? In order to decide, you need to do this for every college you’re considering applying to:

Search for your college on CollegeBoard’s website. The search engine is labeled College Search.
Click Admissions link.
Scroll down to SAT Total Range.
Evaluate yourself based on where you are compared to the mid-range.

For example, Loyola Marymount shows:

SAT Total Range of 1230 – 1410.

> If your SAT score is 1320 or higher, you’re a good candidate.
> If your SAT score is above 1410, you’re a strong candidate–and you’re on track to receive an academic scholarship from the college.
> If your SAT score is below 1230, consider taking the SAT or ACT again. Keep in mind that 25 percent of admits score below this number, so don’t become too discouraged.

You can do the same exercise for ACT scores.

The post Should I take the ACT or SAT again this year? appeared first on Hammer Prep.

Does the PSAT Matter for College Admissions?

Andrew Hemmerich — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 20:59:22 +0000

Short answer: Probably not.

Long answer:

The PSAT is a preliminary qualifying test for certain scholarships. A fact you may not know is that the score you are required to get to become a Semifinalist depends on your state. Usually for California the score is around 220, which corresponds to a 1480 PSAT (and 1560 SAT). You can only miss a few questions on the entire test. That means that you’d already better be scoring really, really high to care about hitting semi-finalist status.

Ok, but I AM scoring pretty darn high! Isn’t it important to get National Merit?

Colleges care about your SAT scores, not your PSAT scores. National Merit is not even close to one of the top criteria in college admissions. Spend time thinking about your college essays or volunteering rather than worrying about the PSAT. It’s really not that big a deal.

But National Merit gives scholarships, right?

Sure, but so do a lot of places. The National Merit top prize is a $2500 scholarship. If you apply for a specific college or corporate scholarship, you might get more. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to get scholarships, but as far as college costs, National Merit is most likely going to be a drop in the bucket. Winning a National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) award is hardly something to stress over. You’ll either get it or you won’t, and again, it’s probably not that big a deal.

So should I even care about the PSAT at all?

Sure, but treat it like an extra homework assignment. It’s great practice for the SAT, and that’s the test you have to worry about!

The post Does the PSAT Matter for College Admissions? appeared first on Hammer Prep.

ACT, SAT, and AP Test Dates and Registration Deadlines for 2022

Andrea Scalero — Sat, 01 Jan 2022 22:59:03 +0000

Standardized tests haven’t gone away yet, so it’s important for students to be prepared for these exams. The following are official exam dates for the ACT, SAT, and AP Exams. If you need help deciding which exams to take or which dates to register for, click here to talk to a test prep specialist.

Official ACT Test Dates for 2022 (more dates to be announced for Fall exams):

Test Date	Registration Deadline	Late Registration Deadline (fee applies)
April 2, 2022	February 25, 2022	March 11, 2022
June 11, 2022	May 6, 2022	May 20, 2022
July 16, 2022	June 17, 2022	June 24, 2022

Some locations may offer Sunday examinations

Official SAT Test Dates for 2022 (more dates to be announced for Fall exams):

Test Date	Registration Deadline	Late Registration Deadline (fee applies)
March 12, 2022	February 11, 2022	March 1, 2022
May 7, 2022	April 8, 2022	April 26, 2022
June 4, 2022	May 5, 2022	May 25, 2022

Some locations may offer Sunday examinations

Official AP Test Dates for 2022

Date	Morning Exams (8 am)	Afternoon Exams (12 pm)
May 2, 2022	Japanese Language & Culture United States Government & Politics	Chemistry Spanish Literature & Culture
May 3, 2022	Environmental Science	Psychology
May 4, 2022	English Literature & Composition	Comparative Government & Politics Computer Science A
May 5, 2022	Human Geography Macroeconomics	Seminar Statistics
May 6, 2022	European History United States History	Art History Microeconomics 2-D Art & Design/3-D Art & Design/Drawing Portfolios DUE by 8pm
May 9, 2022	Calculus AB Calculus BC	Computer Science Principles Italian Language & Culture
May 10, 2022	English Language & Composition	Physics C: Mechanics Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism (2pm exam)
May 11, 2022	Chinese Language & Culture Spanish Language & Culture	Biology
May 12, 2022	French Language & Culture World History: Modern	Physics 1: Algebra-based
May 13, 2022	German Language & Culture Music Theory	Latin Physics 2: Algebra-based

Quick tip: Register early to get a location near your house (applicable for ACT and SAT only).

> Here is a quick link to register for College Board AP exams.

> Here is a quick link to register for College Board SAT.

> Here is a quick link to register for ACT.

Need help preparing for any of these exams?

Click here to connect with a counselor at Hammer Prep.

The post ACT, SAT, and AP Test Dates and Registration Deadlines for 2022 appeared first on Hammer Prep.