August 29, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 13 If it has been awhile since you were in high school, you might be wondering about the slew of standardized tests that students take throughout their high school careers. “Most parents know about the SAT and ACT, but there are several other exams that your teen may encounter throughout high school,” said Heather Carroll of the Ridgewood Huntington Learning Center. Carroll offers parents this quick summary to help them get familiar: SAT: The Scholastic Aptitude Test is the most widely used standardized college admissions test, which colleges across the country use to evaluate students for admission. Nearly every college in the U.S. uses this test as an objective measure of a student’s readiness for college-level classes. The SAT has three sections: math, critical reading, and writing. The math section has questions on arithmetic operations, algebra, geometry, statistics, and probability. Critical reading includes reading passages and sentence completions. The writing section has a mandatory essay, which is useful if applying to colleges that require a writing assessment for admission, and tests grammar and usage. SAT Subject Tests: These content-based exams are required or recommended by some colleges for admission. Some colleges give credit for introductory classes based on students’ SAT Subject Test scores, while others use these scores to advise students about course selection. The idea behind the SAT Subject Tests is that students can improve their credentials for admission into college and differentiate themselves in the college admissions process by demonstrating their strengths. There are 20 SAT Subject Tests across history, math, science, English, and foreign languages. PSAT/NMSQT: Students typically take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test Standardized exams you should know about their sophomore or junior year. The PSAT tests the same math and language arts skills as the SAT and uses the same question types, but it is a shorter exam. Although PSAT scores have no impact on college admissions, the PSAT/ NMSQT is the qualifying test for entry into the National Merit Scholarship Program (when taken as a junior). This program awards 8,300 scholarships each year. Advanced Placement Exams: While the SAT Subject Tests are high school level exams, AP Exams assess students’ college-level knowledge. Students generally take AP courses in high school prior to taking AP exams. These subject-specific tests allow students to satisfy graduation requirements faster by earning college credit for certain AP scores or placing into higher level classes their freshman year, saving them thousands of dollars in college tuition. There are 34 AP Exams. ACT: The ACT (an acronym for American College Testing) is a national college admissions exam that tests students’ knowledge of their high school curriculum. It is accepted by all four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. It is scored based on the number of correct answers, so unlike the SAT, students are not penalized for guessing. The ACT has four sections: English, math, reading, and science. English covers punctuation, grammar, usage, sentence structure, organization, style, and strategy. The writing test is optional. The math section tests pre-algebra, intermediate algebra, coordinate and plane geometry, and trigonometry. The reading section tests comprehension and includes social studies, natural sciences, prose fiction, and humanities reading selections. The science section covers biology, chemistry, physics, and earth/space science knowledge. PLAN: The PLAN is an achievement test for tenth grade students that is based on high school curriculum. This exam assesses students’ English, math, reading, and science skills and knowledge and overall college readiness. While colleges do not look at PLAN scores, the PLAN is a pre-ACT that not only shows students’ academic strengths (continued on page 14)