High school students face SAT stress test

Standardized exam a key component in tough college application process

High school seniors are nearing the home stretch of the college application process, and for many of them, that includes taking the SAT for a second or even third time.

Oct. 6 is most popular fall test date for the SAT, said Brian O'Reilly, a spokesman for the College Board, which administers the test. About 80 percent of students who take the SAT in October are seniors, he said. More than half of all students who take the test take it more than once, O'Reilly said. The most common pattern is spring of the junior year for the first test and fall of the senior year for the second.

Gloria Carroll, a senior at Burke High School, will take the test for the second time Saturday. She first took it in June after her sophomore year and scored 960 out of 1600 on the math and critical reading sections of the SAT.

This fall, the state average was 984, and the national average was 1017.

After the first time Gloria took the test, she completed a preparation course at Burke, finished an online course, studied review books on her own and got help with math from her teachers.

"I can't even compare where I was in 10th grade to where I am now," she said.

She's hoping for a score of at least 1150 the second time around. With that score and her 3.9 grade-point average, she hopes college admissions officials will look favorably at her applications.

It's a stressful time for college-bound seniors. "We're not thinking about right now. We're thinking about the future," Gloria said.

Scott Verzyl, director of admissions at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, said students' SAT scores are "a large part of the decision" about whether they're accepted at the university. The university doesn't yet have the final average SAT score for freshmen this year, he said, but he thinks it will be about 1183.

The university doesn't have a minimum SAT requirement, but, he said, "We admit very few students with less than 1000."

Donald Burkard, associate vice president for enrollment planning at the College of Charleston, said the college uses quantitative and qualitative factors in admissions decisions. If he had to rank the quantitative variables, he said, he'd rank students' grade-point averages first, followed by their SAT scores and the level of difficulty of their high school courses.

The average SAT score for freshmen who entered the college this year was 1220, Burkard said. But, he added, 50 percent of in-state freshmen scored between 1100 and 1240.

Verzyl and Burkard said that their schools accept either SAT or ACT scores. South Carolina students more often submit SAT scores, but the ACT is becoming increasingly popular, they said.

Goose Creek High School guidance counselor Donna Bird said the SAT measures a student's aptitude while the ACT measures his achievement. About two- thirds of students score much better on one test over the other, she said. The other third perform about the same on both tests. At her school, she said, at least half of the students now take the ACT.

But no matter which test the seniors are taking or retaking, she said, standardized test scores are just one part of the stressful application process. Because admission to most colleges is getting more competitive, she said, she advised students to submit applications before Dec. 1.

This time of year, she said, she's got a meeting scheduled with seniors and their parents every hour of the day to review test scores, transcripts and scholarships materials. She can describe this time of year in one word: "stress."

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.