SAT and ACT Test Prep

One of the most common questions I am asked as a school counselor is, “what can I do to prepare for the SAT and ACT?” The answer is, there’s a lot. A ton of exam prep materials exist that can help students squeeze a few more points out of these important assessments.

However, to begin this conversation it’s important to temper expectations. The purpose of the SAT and ACT is to compare the aptitude of students who are applying to college from a national and sometimes international pool. These tests separate the elite from the average in an unbiased way that a GPA might struggle to do. And, the tests do a pretty good job of this. In a sense, they represent your body of intellectual work for the entirety of your schooling so a little time spent preparing for these tests is only going to elevate a student so much. Test prep can improve scores but no one should expect that can turn an average score into a perfect one.

So, how does a student prepare for a test? My belief is that it is possible to overdo it. I wouldn’t want a student to ignore their classroom studies for the sake of preparing for an exam. Plus, it just seems like a good way to burn a young person out. However, some dedicated time spent preparing for an exam in the six to eight weeks leading up to the administration can be beneficial.

The College Board has partnered with the Khan Academy for their test prep and the ACT has partnered with Kaplan for theirs. I think these are the best places to start. It makes sense to me that the people who publish the exams are going to have the best insight into how to prepare, so I think any test prep should include these services at least in part. Both services allow a user to look at previous test attempts, explore weaknesses, and target those weaknesses within the test prep. This is an extremely valuable tool and one that any student will be wise to take advantage of.

These are not the only means for SAT or ACT test prep though. A multitude of third-party resources exists that are aimed at SAT or ACT preparation. They can carry different approaches or different methods of delivery and I won’t suggest that any one of them is better than the other here. You can find these at places like Amazon.com or in the big box book stores like Barnes and Nobles, so it’s probably a good idea to do a little shopping and find one that looks like it’s a good fit for you.

Those products will often be self-directed which means they’ll require a level of self-discipline that not every high school student has. In that case, many high schools offer some after-school or weekend workshops in the days or weeks leading up to test. Colleges and private tutoring services sometimes also offer test preparation classes. These can be the most expensive options for test preps but they occasionally come with money back guarantees to improve your score a certain number of points. I have had good feedback from these sorts of classes in the past and I imagine they wouldn’t offer the guarantee if they weren’t confident they could meet it more often than not.

Athletic Scholarships in College

For many students, athletic activities rival the work done in the classroom. Flexible educational opportunities such as virtual schooling exists now that allow students more time to focus on their training. Many students see their athletic ability as a way to potentially pay for college and therefore the time and costs associated with a sport can be considered an investment with the return being reduced tuition bills. While this is true, it’s important to note these scholarships are very competitive and limited. There are also some important differences in the different tiers of college athletics. Students and parents should be familiar with these as they make decisions about high school and their athletic opportunities.

Most people are familiar with Division 1 college athletics.
These are the schools that play college football on TV on Saturdays or
basketball in March. There are around 8 million students who play high school athletics
but only around 175,000 play Division 1 sports at any given time. So, these are
the most competitive scholarships. However, if you’re able to land one they can
be quite lucrative and cover tuition, housing, and meals. Nevertheless, if you
are talented enough to have the opportunity to play Division 1 sports, there is
still no guarantee you’ll receive scholarship money. This is particularly true
if you play a “non-revenue” sport which is often everything except football and
men’s basketball.

Division 2 schools give some athletic scholarships
as well. However, these schools are often smaller, and the demands of the
athletic program might be less intense than what is found at Division 1
schools. Student athletes might have more of an opportunity to be a bigger fish
in a smaller pond.

Division 3 schools do not offer athletic
scholarships. This is a very important line that is drawn at this tier and one
that many students and parents are unaware of it. Most Division 3 athletes will
qualify for some financial aid but that will be in the form of academic or
need-based scholarships. It won’t come from the athletic department. As a
result, the demands of the athletic programs might be less intense still than
Division 2 programs.

The same is true for colleges that compete in the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics or NAIA. These colleges are
generally on par with Division 3 schools and also do not offer athletic
scholarships. However, they will also give most of their athletes some
financial aid through other avenues.



Any high school athlete who aspires to play at the
next level should register with the NCAA Clearinghouse. There are strict
academic standards a student-athlete must meet in order to qualify for college
athletics. These qualifications vary by the tier of the athletic program but
registering with the NCAA can get your foot in the door for each division.
Students and parents should be aware of financial implications of being a
student athlete and how different colleges and individual sports at individual
schools treat financial aid. There is no one-size-fits-all answer for anything
related to college athletic scholarships so it’s crucial to ask lots of
questions to recruiters and do your own research.

The Scoop on Local Scholarships

Within any given community, there exists a number of civic organizations or groups. These groups often raise funds throughout the year for a variety reasons and one of those is often scholarships. These local scholarships can be quite lucrative, but they are not always the easiest to find. So, here is your guide to what can add up to a substantial amount of money.

        Indeed, not all these scholarships might seem like
a lot of money on their face. You might find some scholarships that reward as
little $100 which could seem like a drop in the bucket towards tuition and
other college costs. However, a resourceful student who can win a handful $100
scholarships might be able to make a meaningful impact on their college costs.

        So, where do you find these scholarships? Local
high schools, whether you attend there or not, or a good place to start. The
people who offer the scholarships are often volunteers so they might be looking
to get the word out as easily as they can. They also might have attended school
at a time when school choice was not as prominent as it is today, so they could
be unaware of all the avenues available as a high school. These people are
going to go the easy route as they distribute information about the
scholarships they offer and that means the local public high school.

        You can try to google these scholarships, but that
might lead to dead ends. The civic organizations might not have a web page to
begin with, and if they do it’s not likely to be a top result from Google’s
algorithm, unless you are searching for something very specific in which case
you probably already know what you need to know about the scholarship. Students
would be better served keeping tabs on local newspapers where information about
these and the fundraisers they are supported by are often published.

        Lastly, you can just ask around. If a student or
their parents have connections to civic groups, ask a member of the group
offers a scholarship. I suppose my point here is that students are going to
need in look in some places they are not used to or are not comfortable with to
find these scholarships. They are going to have to get off-line, read a
newspaper, and talk to real people on the phone or in person. That’s where
these types of scholarships are most likely to be found and there a lot of them.

        It is worth it though. While there are some small
scholarships out there, many of these organizations have well-oiled
fundraisers, endowments, and volumes of contributors that make for hefty
prizes. There are several organizations in my community that offer scholarships
in the thousands of dollars and some of those are renewable each year.
Unfortunately, these scholarships are not flush with applicants, so the
competition is slim. That’s a good thing for these students who choose to apply,
and it makes their effort in finding these all that much more worthwhile.

Mental Health Resources

Lately, it has been difficult to escape the impact of poor mental health on society. Too frequently, this issue has led to a violent attack on some unexpecting group. We can debate other issues related to these attacks, but it’s hard to argue that poor mental health isn’t a key component and underlying cause of the perpetrator’s desire to destroy the lives of others. After these attacks, there is often a public plea for more attention to mental health and counseling. I won’t disagree that more support here would be better, but I also believe there are many mental health resources already in place that are just underused. Perhaps, a key issue for that is a lack of awareness so the following is a guide to some of those resources.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. However, it seems like we actually talk on the phone less and less. Not to worry, their website has a chat feature. The major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have mechanisms in place as well to report suicidal threats. The first step in these is to “report the post”. While we might think these tools are there for content considered obscene or hateful in some way, answering a series questions within the reporting process can connect users with helpful links and contacts such as emergency services or preventative agencies.

Speaking of emergency services, those who work in these fields are trained to assist those experiencing a mental health emergency or have strong connections to those who do. The same is true for educators and those in the medical field. Who doesn’t know a police officer, EMT, firefighter, teacher, nurse, or doctor? These titles are ubiquitous and simply finding one of these individuals and expressing your concern is generally enough to get the ball rolling.

Of course for young people, mental health usually starts at the school. We often call counselors “school counselors” rather than “guidance counselors” because their role has grown more academic and less related to overall well being. However, that is still a critical component of what they do. Many schools have dedicated mental health counselors on staff and students are welcome to see them as needed. Schools are now also using technology to assist in the reporting of mental health concerns. Some schools have instituted “tip lines” or phone numbers one can anonymously text in order to report a concern. There are also apps that can do the same thing, such as Florida’s new Fortify Florida app.

There are many additional avenues through which one can find assistance for themselves or others who may require mental health support. However, none of these services or resources can do any good if they are not utilized or remain in the realm of the unknown. Mental health continues to be a concern in America especially for our young people and we are all responsible for guiding others to the help they might need.

Talking to Teens About Sexual Assault

Recently, it’s been hard to turn read the news and not come across an allegation of sexual assault. The topic has consumed figures in politics, sports, entertainment, and public figures in individual communities as well. While there are plenty of talking heads to listen to about this, I wonder how good of a job we are doing in talking to our kids about this important issue.

In order to have a meaningful conversation about this, I think it is first important to admit that young people are likely going to exhibit risky behaviors at some point. Believing that your child is perfect and will never do anything out of line denies the opportunity to prepare them for challenging situations they may find themselves in one day. After all, even if your child never does something you wish they wouldn’t, you never know who else they might encounter or what your child’s friends could be up to.

As for sexual assault, we know that one of the least common ways this happens is behind a dumpster in a dark alley by a stranger. Rather, it’s pretty common for sexual assault to happen in a bed by a friend or acquaintance.  Alcohol and/or other inhibitors are often involved as well.

I believe that sexual assault is directly tied to consent and we might define sexual assault as the point at which a sexual act moves beyond the point of consent or when it happens while an individual is unable to grant consent. So, knowing what consent looks like or a denial of consent looks like is crucial. This is what we have to teach young people.

However, this is difficult to do. Sex has its “stages” and is usually progressive. Maybe we like someone and want to kiss them, but we don’t want any more than that. This is where sexual assault so often occurs though. I know it’s very hard for a parent to talk to their child about these progressions because you have to discuss what might come along with a kiss. That’s made worse when you have to admit and accept that your child might be experimenting with drugs or alcohol.

I’m a firm believer in the value of positive adult role models that are not a child’s parents. These people can rival the influence of a parent as they shape a teen’s transition to adulthood. Perhaps, these non-parent adult role models can be relied on to have this conversation with teens, but somebody must have this talk. If a parent is too uncomfortable then a counselor, an aunt, a neighbor, a boss, a minister, a teacher, a family friend, or whoever needs to have a discussion with teens about sexual assault. We can’t let the media teach them alone. Teens of this generation need a realistic discussion about how sexual assault happens and that conversation is probably different from the male and female perspectives. So, it might happen best in a gender-isolated setting. Teens need the opportunity to ask questions, to reflect, and be honest about their concerns. Only when we are able to do that, will we begin to make progress in curbing this problem.

Institutional Scholarships

In my view, one of the least talked about categories of scholarships is the institutional scholarship. These are scholarships that are awarded by the college or university themselves or by an organization very closely related to an individual post-secondary school such as a greek organization or alumni group. I believe the reason these are among the least talked about forms of financial aid is because the people who are asking about scholarships (parents) are asking the wrong people (school counselors).


Every college or university has these types of scholarships. However, the ones at the University of Mississippi, for example, are going to be completely different than the ones Georgetown University in Washington DC has. You can’t expect a random counselor at your high school to know all about those anymore that you can expect him or her to know the best places to eat in South Bend, Indiana. Your counselor can speculate that South Bend has some fast food restaurants, there’s probably a Mexican place, a pizza joint, a sports bar with wings, but how is the counselor supposed to know the exact menu of all those restaurants? If you want to know what’s good to eat around Notre Dame, you need to talk to someone in South Bend. So it is with institutional scholarships.


The best place to start your search is with a college’s financial aid website. Many of these scholarships will be offered at admission as part of the financial aid package. These are recruiting tools for the colleges. If the college really wants you to come, they’ll offer you some money to peak your interest. More often than not, the application for these simply means completing the FAFSA and of course your admissions application. However, there is a whole world of other institutional scholarships and the mechanism for applying for them can vary greatly from one college to the next. This is why looking at the school’s financial aid website is so important.


These “other” scholarships might be offered by an individual department within the school, they could come from a certain club, or at the bequest of an individual alumni. Big schools might have hundreds of these and some of the scholarships might have very narrow scopes. The application might consist of a three-page essay that’s reviewed by a panel or it could be a simple phone interview with a single old lady. Simply put, these can go a lot of different ways.





If you’re really serious about finding scholarships, you have to look for them. There’s a chance some of these scholarships aren’t even on the college’s website. Keep your eyes peeled at orientation and after you start college for newspaper ads, flyers, and other venues around campus. Just because you’re already in college doesn’t mean you can’t find new scholarships. Some could be available exclusively for upperclassmen. This is a great way to reduce your financial aid burden and because these often require a little more homework, the competition can be lighter. You just have to decide how hungry you are for financial aid and hard you’re willing to work to track these down.

The Pursuit of Knowledge

    When we discuss all of the elements of college planning and advising or the cat and mouse game students play with college admissions offices or strategies that can eek out a few extra points on the SAT or ACT we are far too often overlooking the most critical element of our educational system, the pursuit of knowledge.
     In my actions as a counselor, I’m as a guilty of this as anyone else. However, I do try to catch myself now and again and try to remember that all that we do in schools should come down to learning. If a student works to leave each school day knowing a little more and being just a little sharper than they were the day before, they are doing something right.
     When we start talking about college admissions, we lose ourselves in a difference in grades between an 89 and 90. We’re not so worried about our mastery of the content covered on the SAT as we are about whether there is a penalty for guessing on the test. And, we pass up the opportunity to take classes we might be interested in because it might not carry the AP designation or be a weighted credit.
     Okay, college admissions is a big deal and an intricate process, so we have to do those things. Though, I think if students remember their job is to learn and work with that mindset in the forefront, their goals will come along. It’s all in how you spin it to the colleges. If you’re able to convince them that you took a course because that course delivered what you wanted to know--if you can convey that genuinely and meaningfully to them--colleges will be hard pressed to fault you for that.
     One of my recent graduates was interested in nursing. Now, this was very high achieving student but she decided to participate in our CNA program during her senior year. This program is designed for students who are most likely to take their CNA certificate and go right to work after high school. The program pretty much consumes the course selection of senior year and is frankly not one that looks as rigorous as a full slate of AP classes. Well, this student got into the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school, and will be there this fall. I think Penn appreciated the fact that she wanted to be a nurse, so she took classes that would give her the most experience in that. She just wanted to learn what she wanted to learn. How can any academic institution hold that against you?
     The very best students are aware of their grades but at the end of the day, they just want to be the smartest person in the room. The hard work that they put in doesn’t necessarily come from a place of trying to get the best grades or the best scores so they can go to the best college. It comes from an internal drive to be better. If a young person can develop that as their primary motivator and execute accordingly, the other pieces are sure to fall into place for them.