College Scramble from page 41
Jane Reiser Williams counsels North Farmington seniors Shayna Wolk, 17, and
Adam Sucher, 17. Both students are Farmington Hills residents.
"It's not just GPA and ifs not just ACT:'
he said. "It's also the extracurricular
activities and their choice of classes and
the strength of their [college application]
essay"
Tutoring may be the answer, Mally said,
for the parents who say, "My son or daugh-
ter is a 3.9 honor student but doesn't test
well."
Mistakes in school or on the ACT can be
due to carelessness or nervousness, said
Mally. Tutoring can give students "confi-
dence and comfortability:'
Mally ACT offers a three-hour ACT
workshop and one-hour tutoring ses-
sions. Mally estimates that most students
average four sessions when they need
help in math or science and eight ses-
sions for English. Some have a standing
weekly appointment. "I even had a student
last year who skipped his math class to
come to me for math tutoring," Mally said
incredulously.
"If the kids put a lot into it, they'll get
A Tutorial
Jay Waldman of Farmington Hills is
a retired certified teacher, a former
Evelyn Wood Speed Reading instruc-
tor and a full-time tutor for the past
20 years.
Among his tips for high school stu-
dents preparing to take the ACT or
SAT tests:
• The Real ACT Prep Guide (ACT
Inc.) and the Official SAT Study
Guide (College Board) have helpful
information about the tests and are
published by the creators of the ACT
and the SAT.
42
November 2 • 2006
iN
a lot out of it:' Mally said. "But, if they are
forced to come by their parents ..."
Suggestions
Two veteran high school guidance coun-
selors have seen the pressure build up.
Mark Eichner of Commerce Township
retired in 2005 after 41 years at Berkley
High School, the last 38 as a counselor.
Jane Reiser Williams of West Bloomfield
has been a counselor at North Farmington
High School for 15 years. They have a few
suggestions.
Eichner said students should be will-
ing to transfer after their freshman year
in college if they are denied admission to
their hoped-for-school. "The admissions
people have told us it's a lot easier to get in
that way:' Eichner said.
He also recommends tutoring and
test-preparation courses to help students
improve their scores. A third option, he
said, is taking college-level courses while
in high school. School districts pay for
• On the ACT, a wrong answer gets
a quarter-point deduction, while a
correct answer is worth a full
point. Therefore, an educated
guess is worth the risk.
• Timing is everything during
the tests. Students must know
how much time they have for
each section and stay within
the timeframe.
• On the application to sign
up for the ACT or the SAT,
students are asked to which
colleges they want their scores
sent. Waldman advises leaving
this section blank. "If you're
Shayna Wolk and Adam Sucher look at college materials posted outside the North
Farmington High School counseling office.
dual enrollment for college classes not
offered at the high school level, "and
it shows the colleges you are serious:'
Eichner said.
For several years, Williams has seen
students taking the ACTs multiple times in
the hopes of raising their scores. But many
are doing it wrong.
The ACT measures knowledge in
English, reading, math and science. "How
can a sophomore taking the ACT do as
well as a senior?" she asked. "Even if they
take it just for practice, they will be disap-
pointed and put pressure on themselves
the next time they take it:'
Williams tells her students to take the
exam in April of their junior year and, if
necessary, again in June or October of the
same calendar year. That way, the students
have absorbed three years of high school
before taking the entrance exam. Research
shows that an individual's test score won't
change much after taking the test twice.
"But the anxiety level will," Williams said.
unhappy with your score, the colleg-
es will never know," he said. "If you
like the score, the
ACT or SAT will
send the score to
your colleges for
a small additional
fee."
• If you are
looking for a tutor,
get a recom-
mendation from a
friend.
As for U-M and MSU, Williams said,
"These two schools aren't right for every-
body" There are other good schools that
may be a better fit because of programs
offered, size, cost and other factors.
Her words were echoed by Ken Gullette,
director of media relations for Iowa City,
Iowa-based ACT Inc. "Parents need to get
their kids to relax and lighten up," he said.
"You don't have to be perfect to have a
good life or a good job."
Gullette is fond of quoting from the
book The Millionaire Mind. Author
Thomas J. Stanley studied 100 U.S. mil-
lionaires and found that their average col-.
lege GPA was 2.92.
As for the Class of 2008 and beyond, the
pressure may be easing. College admis-
sions officers and high school counselors
are seeing a drop in enrollment as the
post-World War II baby boomers reach an
end to their childbearing years. 0