ACT/SAT and Truth about College

Also: Why I’m Spending All My Money on School

Also: I wish I had listened to you, Mrs. White

ACT DATESTest EARLY and test OFTEN

ACT can be used in

place of FCAT!

63% of students have to take it twice to get the

score they need. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE

SAT Dates

ACT vs SAT

• The ACT is an achievement test, measuring what a student has learned in school. The SAT is more of an aptitude test, testing reasoning and verbal abilities.

• The ACT has up to 5 components: English, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and an optional Writing Test. The SAT has only 3 components: Critical Reading, Mathematics, and a required Writing Test.

• The College Board introduced a new version of the SAT in 2005, with a mandatory writing test. ACT continues to offer its well-established test, plus an optional writing test. You take the ACT Writing Test only if required or requested by the college(s) you're applying to.

• The SAT penalizes you for wrong answers, so guessing is discouraged. The ACT is scored based on the number of correct answers with no penalty for guessing.

• The ACT has an Interest Inventory that allows students to evaluate their interests in various career options.

What score do you need? On average, these were the scores of incoming freshmen:

In place of the FCAT:

• 19- ACT, 430- SAT (On just the reading sections)

School Math SAT Verbal SAT ACT

UCF 550-650 530-630 24-28

UF 590-690 580-670 26-31

UofM 630-720 600-700 28-32

FSU 560-640 560-640 25-29

Harvard 710-790 700-800 32-35

How to prepare:

• STUDY! A lot of this is vocabulary and reading strategies. I do ACT prep on Mondays at lunch (email me if you need another time).

• Plan on “failing” it the first time. Yes, I know this is a crazy expensive test, but it is SO different from anything “FCATish” you’ve taken before.

• If you mess up, it’s usually because you didn’t study or the test is completely unfamiliar to you.

$$$$$$ Free Money $$$$$$

• Everyone and their brother is going to want to give you money for school (tech school, community college, state colleges)

Money you have to pay back

Money you don’t have to pay back

Unsubsidized Loans Scholarships

Subsidized Loans (procrastination loans)

Grants

Grandma*

*Mrs. W’s Grandma (charged 25% interest) The federal g

ov pays

the interest

while

you’re in

school IF

you maintain a

certa

in gpa

What do you need to do to get this free money?

• Fill out your FAFSA Jan 1. No, I’m not exaggerating. Money gets given out in order of mistake-free applications.

• Bright Futures- Also available Jan 1.

• Scholarship websites- The school website is a good place to start!

• GOOGLE! Yes. Google. Do some research.

• Scholarship websites- be careful, many of them are scams

Just so you have an idea of how much this stuff costs…..

Note- this is for one

class.

Out-of-State tuition for a community college is about

$400-$600, depending

The cost of the other 3 classes

These are required by the professor, meaning

you don’t have a choice if you want to

pass.

This is the actual

textbook for the class

This is a binder (!!!) to keep the textbook in. The textbook has no

covers. It’s just a bunch of pages.

Let’s do some math!

Tuition

$1073.80

Books$135.00

$93.35

$ 20.55

$ 60.65

$ 60.65

$116.00

$191.75

$129.00

$ 7.00

$622.20

Awww… That’s not so bad, right?

• Total: $1,696

• Hahahahaha just kidding. That’s only ONE SEMESTER.

• Real total: $3,392

• hahahahaha just kidding again. That’s only ONE YEAR.

• It takes most high school students 2.5 to 3 years to finish an AA or AS degree…

• Real Real total: $6,784

•Mind you- this is “just” for a community college. Trade schools are slightly less, because you usually need fewer books/classes, and state schools are quite a bit more.

H e re is h o w m u c h fi n a n c ia l a id th is s tu d e n t re c e iv e d … .

• Total for one year is $5,500.

• Her interest is 11%. (that’s an extra $982.27)

• It’s a Federal unsubsidized direct loan, which means she has to pay the interest even while she’s in school, if she takes a semester off, or drops out.

• Total to pay back:• 1,284- (not

covered by loan) PLUS

• 6,482.27 (rough guestimate of loan + interest)

• = (Psst. This is still only 2 years of college.)

Why am I telling you all this?

• HAVE A PLAN! (This student procrastinated her senior year and didn’t apply for anything!)

• Fun fact- most financial aid requires you to keep 4 classes per semester (to be considered full time). Any “remedial” classes are VERY expensive, ARE NOT covered by scholarships or grants, and DO NOT COUNT FOR CREDIT.

•SCHOLARSHIPS!!!!!!!!!

Yearly earnings of college (and trade school) grads

• Nurse- $69,110

• Teacher- 45,000

• Police Officer- $52,741

• CSI tech- $40,000

• Pilot- 98,000

• Welder- 50,000

• Hotel Manager- $46,000

• Sous Chef - $38,000

• Construction- $34,000

So, while college might seem like a huge investment now, it will pay for itself in the long run!

(Some of these are starting salaries and some are 10-15 years in.)