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

The characteristics of high scoring SAT essays

We found the the SAT essays that has the following four characteristics will score high, normally 12.

1. The essays that has the word count about 400. The essays that has only 100 words normally only receive the score 2.
2. Use two to three examples to support your point of view. At least one of them come from literature or history. The essay that uses personal experience as support example normally would not get a high score.
3. The essay should be four or five paragraph structure.
4. The first paragraph clarify your point of view; the next two paragraphs give two support ideas; the last one re-state your point of view.

2010 SAT Average Score

For US students, the 2010 SAT average score is 1509 (CR: 501, Math: 516, and Writing: 492)
For international students, the 2010 SAT average score is 1593 (CR: 496, Math: 587, and Writing: 510)

We can see that for international students, although their first language is not English, their critical reading score is not too bad and is just 5 points lower than US students. The math  score for international students is much higher than US students.

2010 SAT Average Score

For US students, the 2010 SAT average score is 1509 (CR: 501, Math: 516, and Writing: 492)
For international students, the 2010 SAT average score is 1593 (CR: 496, Math: 587, and Writing: 510)

We can see that for international students, although their first language is not English, their critical reading score is not too bad and is just 5 points lower than US students. The math  score for international students is much higher than US students.