Essay prompts from the CollegeBoard in June 2011

Prompt 1

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
People assume that every accomplishment—each step in what we call progress—will lead to the solution to a problem and will help them reach the goal of understanding themselves and the world around them. In reality, however, each new answer provokes additional questions and each fresh discovery uncovers further complications. Every accomplishment leads to further problems, added responsibilities, more complications, and new challenges.
Assignment: Does every achievement bring with it new challenges? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Prompt 2

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Loyalty is a virtue that is encouraged and rewarded in every aspect of our lives. We are, therefore, loyal to our families, our teams, our schools, and our countries. But too often loyalty is blind: by automatically identifying ourselves with a group and accepting its values as our own, we avoid taking responsibility for our own thoughts and actions.
Assignment: Does accepting the values of a group allow people to avoid taking responsibility for their own thoughts and actions? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Prompt 3

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
A requirement for membership in any group is conformity. Members must agree on such vital issues as how decisions will be made, who will serve as leaders, and how much freedom group members will have. The quality of decision making, however, is better when groups encourage nonconformity and disagreement among their members. Although it sometimes creates disorder and conflict, disagreement may prevent powerful majorities from making mistakes.
Assignment: Do groups that encourage nonconformity and disagreement function better than those that discourage it? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

As an international student, what is the best approach to prepare for the SAT words?

For international students, the most challenge part when they prepare for the SAT is to learn the SAT words. But studying the SAT words is very time consuming and could be very boring.

Most of the students just try to remember the words meaning in their native language from a long list. This approach is not only in-efficient (the students will forget the meanings very quickly!!!) but also un-helpful (the students do not understand the word meaning EXACTLY). More over it will definitely have a major negative impact on the critical reading as the students will do two times translation (English to their native language to English).

To learn the SAT words more effectively, the students could use the online tool that StarCatcher SAT has developed (website: http://www.northstarelearning.com/satwords ). This online tool provides e-flashcards and online practices for over 5000+ SAT words. More over it could identify and isolate the students' problematic SAT words and let the students focus their effort on these words...

The students may start from the 300 high frequency SAT words, then study the most common 1000 SAT words. If they still have time, they may learn the Barron SAT words. After that they will be very well prepared for the SAT.

College board SAT essay prompts in March 2011

Prompt 1

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Reality television programs, which feature real people engaged in real activities rather than professional actors performing scripted scenes, are increasingly popular. These shows depict ordinary people competing in everything from singing and dancing to losing weight, or just living their everyday lives. Most people believe that the reality these shows portray is authentic, but they are being misled. How authentic can these shows be when producers design challenges for the participants and then editors alter filmed scenes?
Assignment: Do people benefit from forms of entertainment that show so-called reality, or are such forms of entertainment harmful? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Prompt 2

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Photographs are very much a part of our daily lives. They show us faraway places, things to buy, important people and happenings, and sometimes just the ordinary. These pictures seem like frozen moments of real life. Cameras do copy what is in front of the lens, and so, in that sense, photographs show us what is real. They are at the same time, however, creations of the artist's intentions and unconscious mind.

Adapted from Leslie Sills, In Real Life: Six Women Photographers
Assignment: Are photographs straightforward representations of real life, or are they artistic creations reflecting the photographer's point of view? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Prompt 3

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
When we are young, we learn from parents and teachers that we should wait patiently for what we want. Few people would dispute the wisdom or truth of this teaching. Our society, however, with its mad rush and hurry and its insistence on instant gratification and quick responses, encourages and rewards impatience. Experience teaches us that we should not and do not have to wait.
Assignment: Is it better for people to act quickly and expect quick responses from others rather than to wait patiently for what they want? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Difference in the admission process for public school vs. private ones

Although a lot of people think the admission process for public and private schools are similar, actually there are major differences between public and private institutions and these difference will definitely impact your chance of success. The following table lists the key differences.

Factor Private(percent of private schools consider it is important) Public(percent of public schools consider it is important)
GPA in core courses 85% 90%
Strength of curriculum 69% 75%
SAT/ACT 54% 71%
Grade in all courses 44% 52%
Essay 31% 13%
Extra-curricular activities 10% 5%
Interview 9% 0%
AP/IB tests 9% 2%

For more detail, please check Private schools vs. public ones.

Facebook application "SAT Score prediction" just launched

StarCatcher SAT just launched its facebook application "SAT score prediction". The students now are able to predict their potential SAT score and see which colleges they may get in within seconds.

SAT Essay Prompts in Jan. 2011 - from college board

Prompt 1

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Idealistic people, people who pursue great ideas in hopes of changing the world, often have ambitious plans that are difficult or even impossible to carry out. These people can claim few solid accomplishments. In contrast, practical people concentrate on workable ideas and goals, even though these may not meet an idealist's high standards. Their approach is likely to be more valuable than the approach of idealistic people.
Assignment: Is an idealistic approach less valuable than a practical approach? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Prompt 2

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
People generally put more trust in what they have learned for themselves than in what they learn from others. Few people, however, are really motivated to learn anything on their own. They are much more apt to learn when others are willing to teach them. Even though learning from others means occasionally learning things that are not useful or important, people are still better off when they learn from others.

Assignment: Is it better for people to learn from others than to learn on their own? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Prompt 3

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Too many people do not consider their task or project complete or acceptable until every detail has been done right. Fortunately, such people have not always had their way, since nothing would ever be completed if we had to check every detail before we could consider our work done. In fact, none of the world's greatest accomplishments would have been made, because none of them is perfect in every detail.

Assignment: Do people put too much importance on getting every detail right on a project or task? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Prompt 4

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
People in our goal-oriented society place far too much emphasis on the outcomes of what they do. As a result, they miss out on the most important part of attempting anything: the process itself. The process of trying to achieve something is always more meaningful and enjoyable than reaching the final goal. Whether we succeed or fail, it is the process—how we go about achieving the goal—that matters most.

Assignment: Does the process of doing something matter more than the outcome? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.


source: college board

2010 AP Test Statistics

Here is an interesting article about the AP test data in 2010.

Nationally, more than 2.5 million AP exams were given to those who graduated from high school in 2010 -- with the most common score a 3.

Breakdown of Scores on AP Exams, 2010

1	22.6%
2	21.3%
3	23.4%
4	18.8%
5	13.9%

AP Test-Taking Population and High School Population, Class of 2010

Group	% of High School Population	% of AP Test Takers
Black	14.6%	8.6%
Latino	16.8%	16.0%
Native American	1.1%	0.6%
Asian American	5.5%	10.2%
White	60.5%	57.9%

For more information, please see the link: 2010 AP Test Data