However, one problem is that in many areas (such as rural locations), there are NO alumnae to do the interviews. Another problem is that in large areas like NY, NJ, CT, etc…, there are thousands of apps and it’s very hard logistically to organize things. As you could guess, some alums are more organized than others, so often being offered an interview is more a function of how together your local alumni coordinator is than if you “deserve” an interview. By this time of year, most of our students have had about half of their alumni interviews and are waiting for the others.

If you have NOT heard from a school that is high on your list, call the admissions office or check online to find out who the regional person is who sets up the interviews. Then you can call or email that person directly to ask whether they can fit you in. Interviews can take place as late as March and still count, but in general, the earlier the better. You don’t need to be a pest, but it’s not that big a deal to call to find out the contact info for your local interview organizer. Sometimes making the call can start a positive chain of events. In short, don’t panic if you haven’t been contacted, but take some action so you can have your interview early enough in the decision process to matter!

Even a student who is No. 1 in a top public school will not be accepted to top colleges if he or she has low scores on the SAT and SAT Subject Tests. Another thing to consider is the competition: at top private schools like Andover and Exeter, only the top students get into the very top colleges. It’s actually HARDER to be in the top 5-10% of the class at a place where almost everyone is qualified versus a big public school with some “dead weight.” In short, you should make this decision based on the options, comfort level, course offerings, sports and specialty offerings for your child rather than trying to outwit college admissions officers who will not be impressed just by a big name private school.

Most importantly, students will perform better – and be happier – at a school where they feel most comfortable. If a student truly loves Andover, and the family believes that the expense is warranted, then Andover is the right choice. If the local public school has great teachers, neighborhood friends, a full line up of AP courses, and a safe environment, then it may be worth more to a student than any of the famous prep schools.

Taking three tests in one day almost always results in getting lower scores on all three tests than if you took them on separate dates. Try to take at least one or two SAT Subject tests freshman or sophomore year so the burden does not fall on junior and senior year. If you’re a junior, take advantage of midyear test dates like the upcoming January test and the March test (the latter is for only the SAT I). If you plan to take the SAT I in January of your junior year and again in March, by the May test date you’ll be ready to spread your SAT Subject Tests into two distinct test dates: May and June. If you are an international student, however, there is no March test date for the SAT I. Don’t underestimate the importance of Subject Tests–colleges sometimes count them even more than SAT I’s since they provide an idea of what grading is like at your high school.

A quick tip about the essay on the SAT writing section: The longer your essay, the higher your score. All the high-scoring sample essays included in The Official SAT Study Guide For The New SAT are fairly long and well-developed, while the low-scoring sample essays are much shorter. But be careful–even though an essay scores often seems correlate with their length, that doesn’t mean that writing garbage just to fill up space is a good idea. Rather, it means is that if you’ve written a short essay, your chances of scoring high are slim. So if you think you’ve finished your essay and you still have a few minutes left, add another paragraph or two and you’ll probably earn an extra point or two!