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SAT, PSAT & ACT Testing

WHERE: Saint Anthony is an approved Maui County District  SAT, PSAT and ACT test center.  On test day, SAT and ACT test-takers must check in at the school library by 7:45am on scheduled Saturdays.  PSAT test-takers must check in with the school office by 7:45am (if the test-taker is not a Saint Anthony student).

WHEN: SAT and ACT testing takes place throughout the school year.  The PSAT- only once at Saint Anthony. Here are the schedules for 2010-2011 for each test:
SAT:  
March 12, 2011
May 7, 2011
June 4, 2011

ACT:  
April 9, 2011
June 11, 2011

WHY/HOW: Most colleges and universities require every applicant to at least have taken either the SAT or ACT standardized test (check with the school’s admissions department or Ms. Martin to find out what a given college’s testing requirements are). 
The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) is administered by the College Board.  Registration and other information can be accessed at: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/reg.html
The ACT (American College Test) is administered by ACT, Inc.  Registration and other information can be accessed at:  http://www.actstudent.org/regist/index.html

WHICH: The PSAT is essentially a junior-PSAT (a warm-up for the SAT) and is administered primarily to sophomores and juniors.  Like the SAT general reasoning test, it consists of three separate sections:  Reading, Math, and Writing.  Scores are 10% of SAT scores, meaning a perfect score on each section is 80, as opposed to 800 on the SAT.  The prestigious National Merit Scholarship is based on PSAT scoring, with only the top 1% or less of PSAT test-takers in each state eligible for this renowned award.
In addition to its general reasoning test, the SAT also administers a subject test. Most colleges and universities do not require a Subject Test to be taken. To be on the safe side, check with Ms. Martin to see if your colleges/ universities of choice require this specialized exam.
The SAT and ACT exams are utilized by most colleges and universities as one of many criteria for determining whether an applicant should be admitted or not.
Should you take the SAT or ACT?    Opinions differ. Here is a helpful article that sheds some light on the question-         http://www.helium.com/items/378303-comparing-the-sat-and-act
In general more colleges and universities still prefer the SAT, although many allow the ACT to be substituted for the SAT.   Here is the conversion chart for how what SAT and ACT scores are considered equivalent by colleges and universities  (scroll towards the bottom of this article):  http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/act-sat-concordance-tables.pdf

FEE WAIVERS: For students in financial need, both the SAT and ACT provide fee waivers that allow such students to take each exam cost-free.  Please see Ms. Martin to see if you qualify, and how to apply the fee waiver to your test registration. Please note:  The fee waiver can only be utilized by registering for each exam online, during normal (as opposed to late) registration periods.

HOW TO PREPARE: The online college planning tool NAVIANCE provides excellent SAT test preparation, which is can be accessed by every Saint Anthony student once they have logged into NAVIANCE by creating an account.

PSAT/SAT/ACT and Subject Tests Preparation Workshop <- click here to see details

The College Board provides the following SAT test preparation information at http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/prep

PSAT test-prep can be had at:  http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/psat/prep

ACT, Inc.  provides their own test/exam tips at http://www.actstudent.org/testprep/index.html

Other SAT and ACT test prep sources include the following: 

Test Success Hawaii, Inc. offers weekend test prep tutoring at various schools throughout the state, including Maui, throughout the year.  Call(808) 394-8378 for scheduling information and to register, and/or go to www.testsuccesshawaii.com for more details and to register.   

Education Therapy – Kahului.  They provide SAT prep tutoring, along with many other tutoring services.  Go to www.educationtherapy.org for details, or call (808) 893-0590.

Learning Center of Maui,  Kahului.   Call 873-6217.  They provide both SAT/ACT test tutoring services.

Kaplan-  This nationally known test prep service offers both online tutoring and in-class courses on Oahu.  Go to www.kaptest.com for more details.

For those interested, you can access SAT and ACT test help free of charge on this website, at:  http://www.testprepreview.com/sat_practice.htm