In the few days before 2012 ends and 2013 begins, we’ll be looking back at some of our top posts from the past year, starting with number five and counting down to number one. If you missed these articles the first time around, now’s your time to see why we’ve found these particular pieces so compelling.

#2
Why a Weak SAT Score Didn’t Kill My College Dreams
by Phillip Dube

It’s not that standardized test scores, like the SAT or GRE, aren’t important, it’s just that they don’t have to make or break your college dreams. That’s what Phillip concluded in his post about what happened when his SAT scores didn’t meet his expectations.

Read it: “Why a Weak SAT Score Didn’t Kill My College Dreams“

“I thought it was unfair for my college preparedness to be judged on the four hours of mental torture that is the SAT, and on a test result that belied my actual abilities,” he wrote.

My high school transcript was stellar, my essays were well-written (so said my EducationUSA advisor), and I had dedicated a lot of effort and energy to making my community a better place.

I don’t know for sure that my SAT score is what hurt my Amherst application, but I felt that surely all those achievements were worth something. Did they not reflect my potential to succeed at an American college better than the SAT exam?

Phillip eventually applied and was admitted to a test-optional school that didn’t require him to submit an SAT or ACT score at all.  ”Without the option of leaving that score off my application …, I’m not sure I would have had the opportunity to study here,” he said.

It’s good news for anyone whose test day didn’t go exactly as they had planned. Anyone like Shree, who chronicled his disappointing SAT experience in one of our most unique posts of 2012.

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This guest post comes from Yun Ye, who is not only interning at VOA this semester, but also applying to graduate school. She recently attended an information session for her top choice school, and came back with a new perspective on the role of the GRE in admissions.

More and more Chinese students are attending graduate school in the U.S. – 88,429 at last count, an increase of 15% from the previous year – and how to get into the dream school is something weighing on the minds of many Chinese students.

Among my friends in China who, like me, wanted to pursue higher education in the U.S., the conversation was often about what schools we were planning to apply to and how we planned to get in – and when we thought about how we planned to get in, we often thought about our test scores.

In Chinese education, grades are the most important thing to a student. When I was at school, I remember striving for an excellent grade had been almost everyone’s goal. With that mentality, when my friends and former classmates started applying to U.S. grad schools, they put a lot of pressure on themselves to get a high score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). The GRE is a standardized test required for admission at most graduate schools.

People who got a good score on the GRE would share their study experiences on online forums, which others would read in the hopes of emulating their performance.  Chinese students preparing to study abroad get very familiar with forums such as “Xiaomaguohe.com,” “Taisha” or “Jituo.”

I also know people who spent a lot of money on classes to prepare for the GRE test, and people who dedicated a couple of months to studying; some people even took half a year to study.

I’m sure all that studying will eventually pay off in their scores, but I learned something valuable when I visited graduate schools recently in preparation for my own applications: the GRE score isn’t as important as my Chinese classmates made it out to be.

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After five months of trying different strategies to prepare for the SAT exam (read my previous post to find out how I prepared), I felt fairly confident that I knew what to expect on my November test date.  With just about two weeks between the exam and the deadline for my early decision application, I had been studying hard to get a score that would enhance my application. I still faced lots of challenges to getting the score I wanted, but I was sure at least I knew what those challenges would be.

However,  the day did not go exactly as I had planned.  That is, it started out well enough, as I sat down and tackled the first sections the SAT threw at me.

Sections 1 and 2

The first section of the test is always the essay. Although I had always used an outline while practicing, I decided it wouldn’t be necessary this time.  I remember writing as fast as I could for almost the full 25 minutes. As I read back through the essay with about 2 minutes to go, it felt like it was the best one I had ever written.

The second section was a Mathematics section, and that turned out to be great as well. I completed the section 10 minutes early, and I even managed to recheck my answers. It was in fact a pretty good start.

After the second section, it was time for a five minute break.

Sections 3, 4 and 5

Then came the Writing section. Although I did not finish ahead of time, I finished exactly in time and the questions, in my opinion, were somewhat easy compared to what I had been practicing with.

The same with the next section, which was a Critical Reading one.

After another short break came the second Mathematics section, which also went well.  Things seemed pretty smooth so far.

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It was only six months ago that I decided to apply to the U.S. for my undergraduate degree.  I was selected for the Opportunity Funding program, which would cover all the costs of the application process, and suddenly my distant thought of applying to the U.S. became reality and I was off and running from ground zero.

There was a lot to get done before November 1, when my first early decision application was due, but even way back in May the SAT exam seemed the most frightening part.  I needed to get a 1500 just to keep my Opportunity Funding, but I needed much more than that to reach the mean SAT scores at the colleges and universities I was looking at.

Five months may not have seemed like a lot of time, but in that span I had a lot of opportunities to try (and reject) different approaches to studying for the SAT.

Approach #1: Blind Panic

At the beginning, the extra pressure of the SAT was really getting to me, and I started practicing constantly, hoping that I could eventually get a perfect score.

I used to practice in my room with the door locked so that no one could disturb me.  I would eat breakfast in the mid-afternoon, and the concept of lunch and dinner ceased to make sense to me.  Gradually I started to become slimmer and slimmer, until my cheekbones stuck out so prominently that my sister remarked that she could study the structure of the human skull just by looking at me.  My nails were almost half an inch long, and my hair had grown long enough to cover half my face!

And the more I practiced, the less I focused on the other application components.  After three months, my application essay was not even started, I hadn’t sent my request for recommendations, and I had stopped preparing for the TOEFL.  With the November 1 deadline looming, and a blank page titled “My Soon-to-be Application Essay” staring at me, I realized I needed to get organized.

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“The test commences at 8:45am. I work through the essay assignment, frantically, reading quietly as I print out my ideas on paper because I want to avoid silly mistakes.

‘Stop writing, pencils down!’ instructs the invigilator.

We start work on the next section.

The vocabulary in this section is mostly new. I struggle with the first few questions but employ the strategies my SAT tutor gave me and, surprisingly, I finish answering all the questions before the stern-faced lady calls the time. This boosts my confidence and I work on the other sections easily.

After close to four hours in the test room, the exam is finally over. I was out of the room tired but somewhat happy. I answered most of the questions and hopefully I gave the correct answers.”

I wrote those words in 2011 for an article in The SundayMail (the best-selling weekly in Zimbabwe). My early decision application to Amherst College had been deferred and, hoping to improve my chances for admission, I was retaking the SAT for the second time. Two weeks later I found out the result of my effort.

My SAT score had increased by a mere 70 points, from 1680 to 1750. I had given it my best shot, but that score wouldn’t increase my hope of getting into Amherst, my dream school, where the average SAT score is more like 2100.

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Editor’s note: Shree is currently in the process of applying to study in the U.S. for the fall of 2013. He’s agreed to take us with him on that process, recapping each step as he accomplishes it, and filling us in on what he did right and wrong so we can learn from his mistakes.  First up, the TOEFL.

I have always feared standardized tests. In fact, I fear all tests, from college exams to oral exams at the dentist. A fear of something-might-just-go-wrong always makes me nervous. So I was not looking forward to the standardized tests I was told by U.S. Education Foundation advisors would be crucial to my college applications. But, the TOEFL turned out to be different.

Alongside the SAT/ACT, the TOEFL is the standardized test required by most U.S. colleges. Unlike the SAT, however, which sort of measures the intellectual ability of students, the TOEFL is a check of basic skills – Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing (the four sections of the test) – the same things students do during their school years.  In other words, you don’t need to be smart to score high on the TOEFL.

[What is the minimum required TOEFL score?]

But you do need to know the test format in advance.

The TOEFL is strictly formatted in each and every section. For example, the writing section always contains an integrated task (writing an essay based on a given report and a lecture) and an independent task (a topic is given in which we are free to write).

Knowing the format and instructions beforehand helped me a lot during the test. Although they give you time to read the instructions for every section, I found that reading the instructions broke my focus, so I learned them ahead of time and skipped them during the test. Sometimes I would take deep breaths during that time to ease the pressure, because once the sections start they don’t pause.

[How nerves impacted Anna's TOEFL performance]

Photo by Nick Hoang

Knowing the format isn’t everything though.  I practiced.  A lot.  Over and over again. I found the Delta’s Key to the TOEFL Test book to be very useful, as it contained drills on individual question types, and I used the Cambridge Preparation for the TOEFL Test book to work on basic skills like note-taking, summarizing and paraphrasing. The fun part about TOEFL, though, was that I didn’t need to actually *practice* to get practice.  There were a lot of ways to fit TOEFL preparations into my normal, everyday life.
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Vladimir applied to college in the U.S. from Bosnia this year.  While not his favorite part of the process, he says taking the SATs gave him a certain sense of satisfaction.  This is his story of preparing for and taking that often-dreaded exam.

I remember exactly how I felt filling in the last bubble on my last SAT, the SAT II Chemistry. Oh, how I enjoyed filling in that bubble. The feeling of coming to the end of that long journey was simply overwhelming.

This is how it all began.

I took the SAT Reasoning (SAT I) in June 2011. I had to travel to Sarajevo, 7 hours away, since it is the only city where I could have taken the exam in my country.

I prepared for it; not as nearly as I planned to, but I did practice and learn. As a non-native speaker, the writing and reading sections were the most demanding.

First advice, don’t even think of taking it before preparing at least for a month from the SAT prep books. There are so many tricks and tips I would never have thought of, but when I started taking the practice tests and compared them with the diagnostic test (there is always a diagnostic test at the beginning of those books that show you how you would do without any preparation, and which are your trouble-zones), the difference was obvious.
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Yesterday we shared the first of two recent phone conversations we had to talk about studying and living in the U.S. If you didn’t have a chance to listen to that one, check it out.

In this second conversation, we start out talking about American culture, but with prospective student Vladimir on the line, quickly switch to sharing advice and opinions about applying to study in the U.S. We talk about where to find reliable information, everyone’s experiences taking standardized tests, and what criteria people used to decide where to apply.

And as a special bonus, you’ll hear two horror stories from taking the SAT. Hopefully yours won’t be anything like these!

Or download the mp3

You’ve heard the advice our bloggers had to give – what’s yours? If you had to pass on one piece of advice about applying to study in America, what would it be?

I had the great pleasure today to join VOA Learning English for a live video chat about studying in the U.S. A lot of you submitted questions in advance on Facebook, and we took some Skype calls during the chat as well.

It was a great time and we covered a lot of topics, including what it costs, how to get scholarships, what you have to do to get a visa, whether international students are allowed to work, and how to improve your English.

Watch it again here:

UPDATE: The video’s now annotated to help you find the important parts and skip over the rest. Put your cursor over the thin blue lines to see what questions we discussed and navigate directly to what you want to hear.

I had a total “brain fart” (memory loss) on the question of what’s considered a good TOEFL score. We actually discussed that in the blog post “What are Typical Application Deadlines and TOEFL Requirements?,” so go there for the answer.

Did we answer your questions?  What other questions do you have about studying in the U.S.?

In the summer of 2007 I, a high school graduate in Russia, spent hours on the Internet in search of a cheap summer school in the United States. I had been studying English for a couple of years, but I never had a chance to practice it with native speakers. Summer school seemed like a good opportunity, but the average cost was unimaginably high for my family.

I did not find a cheap summer school then, but I discovered something a hundred times more valuable. I learned about an exchange program called Global UGRAD, which offers students the chance to go to a university in the United States for one academic year, pursue an internship, and engage in community service – for free.

Preparing for Halloween at Southern Maine Community College

I applied in my first year of college, and after a few rounds of the competition, I was selected as one of the 20 finalists. I spent my year at Southern Maine Community College, located nicely on the beach.

The Global UGRAD Program also allows its applicants to choose any major, regardless of what they study at their home universities. I took advantage of this policy and picked something I was really passionate about but never had a chance to study – International Affairs.

When I came back to my home university, I knew I wanted to change my major from Marketing to International Affairs. Because of institutional bureaucracy it turned out to be practically impossible. Moreover, this exchange experience made me very sensitive to the differences in Russian and American education systems. I began to notice disadvantages of education in Russia that I didn’t notice before.

So I started to think about continuing my studies in the U.S.  But despite my academic experiences there, I still had very little knowledge about applying to American universities. I did not even know at that point in time that transferring from a university in Russia to a university in the United States was possible. I started my research from literally nothing.

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If you’re planning to apply to graduate school in the next year, you’re probably thinking about taking the GRE – the “Graduate Record Examination,” which is required for admission to many graduate programs.  You’ve probably also heard (possibly with some trepidation), that the GRE is making some changes to its test format and scoring, starting with tests administered in August, 2011.

According a GRE rep interviewed by the New York Times, these changes are meant to measure more practical skills that students actually need to succeed in graduate school.  And it more closely mimics graduate school realities – students now get to use calculators to answer math questions.

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China Daily “Big Talk” interviewed two representatives from EducationUSA, who gave some useful advice for prospective students.  In particular, they addressed misconceptions that many Chinese students have about studying in the US.  The video is on their website, but here are some highlights:

Misconception: Chinese students can only apply to certain types of universities

One misunderstanding is that there are only a limited number of schools to which Chinese students can go now.  We in the US don’t have a quota system at all.  So it’s not exactly true that more schools are opening their doors because they’ve always been open, and they’ll continue to be open.

- Lauryne Massinga – director of EducationUSA Asia – Northeast

Misconception: You need great SAT scores to go to a good college

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Most U.S. college require you take either the SAT or the ACT examination to apply.  What’s the difference between the two?  Northjersey.com has a succinct explanation of some of the major differences:

The SAT is considered a reasoning-based test, requiring critical thinking and problem-solving. … The ACT is a curriculum-based test, and strong students may find they do better on the ACT, which is more closely aligned with what they have learned in school.

The pacing is also different on the two exams. The ACT has fewer sections, but each one is longer.

Make sure you also check out the growing list of schools will allow you to apply without having taken either exam.

“If anything is certain, it is that change is certain.”
-Philip Crosby

The Unexpected Gets a Vote

Three years ago I got a brief taste of what my life would become today. It all started with a new year’s resolution: to make all of my work count for something by seeing it through to the finish.

All you need to do is search Flickr to find out that people worldwide hate putting together DIY tables (Creative commons photo by Flickr user Betty B)

In February 2008, my friends and I moved into a new apartment in a new neighborhood back in Malaysia (where I did my undergrad). We spent about half of the day moving in furniture and trying to put things in order – a hideous task, to be honest.

By day’s end all the furniture was in place except for one computer table that needed to be assembled. It was 2am, I was exhausted, and I had zero IQ in woodwork.

Any other time I might have decided to put it aside until the morning and then wake up three months later to see it still undone. And I probably wouldn’t be bothered by it either.

But I had a new year’s resolution to execute. So I quickly opened the package before my mind changed.

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