Using My College QuickStart™: A Free, Online College and Career Planning Kit for students who take the PSAT/NMSQT

College Board Middle States Regional ForumFebruary 14, 2008

To learn about My College QuickStart to support student college readiness and career planning.

To hear real life best practices from an exemplary educator on effectively using My College QuickStart and to gain ideas for using it with your students.

Today’s Goals

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• Introduction

Mimi Lee, PSAT/NMSQT Program, College Board

• Tour My College QuickStart Jennifer Brown, Product Manager, My College QuickStart Pro, College Board Dot Com

• Using My College QuickStart at Nazareth Academy High School, PASister Constance Sabalauskas, Guidance Director, Nazareth Academy High School

• Concluding remarks and Q&A

Agenda

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My College QuickStart

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My College QuickStart• My College QuickStart is provided to PSAT/NMSQT test-takers only.

• It is a free, personalized college and career planning kit that takes student information and answers provided when they took the test, and presents personalized data back in four main parts:

* My Online Score Report * My SAT Study Plan* My College Matches* My Major and Career Matches

• Available in mid-December

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My College QuickStartNew this year:

Educators can see and experience My College QuickStart firsthand using a demo account!To log in: Go to the Summary of Answers and Skills (SOAS) reports homepage www.collegeboard.com/reports;

sign in with your SOAS access code, which is printed in the upper-right corner your school's Roster of Student Scores and Plans;

and click on ‘MCQS Demo Wednesday Test’ or ‘MCQS Demo Saturday Test’.

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My College QuickStart

New this year:

My College QuickStart is provided to middle school students and PSSS test-takers.

Note: Middle school students are presented with The Official SAT Question of the Day instead of the My SAT Study Plan.

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My College QuickStartNew this year:

My College QuickStart resources are available

From www.collegeboard.com/ resoures, click on “resources” for access to:

• Lesson plans• How-to guides on getting connected• Implementation Guide containing best practices• Parent communication

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My College QuickStart: Signing inwww.collegeboard.com/quickstart

Click on Sign In

Enter the access code from the student paper score report

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My College QuickStartMy Online Score Report

Look Beyond Your Score • Access test questions, student answers, and complete answer explanations

• Sort answers; e.g. “questions answered incorrectly or omitted”

• Find out the projected SAT score range

• See state and national percentiles

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My College QuickStartMy Online Score Report

Look Beyond Your Score • Access test questions, student answers, and complete answer explanations

• Sort answers; e.g. “questions answered incorrectly or omitted”

• Find out the projected SAT score range

• See state and national percentiles

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My College QuickStartMy Online Score Report

Look Beyond Your Score • Access test questions, student answers, and complete answer explanations

• Sort answers; e.g. “questions answered incorrectly or omitted”

• Find out the projected SAT score range

• See state and national percentiles

Students can sort questions to review types of questions they answered incorrectly or omitted

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My College QuickStartMy SAT Study Plan

Prepare for the SAT

High school students can make the most of their PSAT/NMSQT results with their own customized SAT study plan:

• Find out skills to improve, for each student based on their PSAT/NMSQT results• Get acquainted with the format of the SAT and learn test-taking approaches • Access an official SAT practice test• Sign up for the SAT Question of the Day 13

My College QuickStartMy SAT Study Plan

Prepare for the SAT

Students can make the most of their PSAT/NMSQT results with their own customized SAT study plan:

• Find out skills to improve, for each student based on their PSAT/NMSQT results• Get acquainted with the format of the SAT and learn test-taking approaches • Access an official SAT practice test• Sign up for the SAT Question of the Day

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My College QuickStartMy SAT Study Plan

Prepare for the SAT

Students can make the most of their PSAT/NMSQT results with their own customized SAT study plan:

• Find out skills to improve, for each student based on their PSAT/NMSQT results• Get acquainted with the format of the SAT and learn test-taking approaches • Access an official SAT practice test• Sign up for the SAT Question of the Day 15

My College QuickStartMy SAT Study Plan

Review and Practice

On Review and Practice pages, students can review PSAT/NMSQT questions they missed and answer SAT practice questions of the same type.

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My College QuickStartMy SAT Study Plan

Express SAT Sign Up

Students that take the PSAT/NMSQT are on their way to taking the SAT; their information is pre-populated for easier SAT registration.

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My College QuickStartMy College Matches

Jump-Start the College Search

Get a list of colleges that offer the student’s indicated preferred major in their home state.

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My College QuickStartMy Major and Career Matches

Connect to the Possibilities

When students take the PSAT/NMSQT, they indicate a major they’re interested in. My Major and Career matches provides:

• A full profile of the indicated major• Related majors• Related careers 19

My College QuickStartMy Major and Career Matches

Connect to the Possibilities

Students are provided with a full profile of their indicated major, including:

• Ways to prepare while still in high school• A list of courses students can expect to take in college• Possible careers associated with various degree levels

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My College QuickStartMy Major and Career Matches

Discover the Unknown

If a student is uncertain of his/her major of interest or would like to explore other possible matches, MyRoad includes a personality test to help them discover majors and careers that match their interests.

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Using My College QuickStart at Nazareth Academy, PA

Sister Constance SabalauskasGuidance Director

Nazareth Academy High School

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•From preparation: involve counselors, students, parents

•To incorporating QuickStart into college counseling and our developmental program

Getting There

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• Informed them that Quickstart was available for all test takers.

• Take the QuickStart tour and become familiar with the program.

• Explore the QuickStart demo for either the Wednesday or Saturday PSAT.

Counselors

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• Had small group meetings with 11th graders to create their CB accounts.

• Had 9th and 10th graders create CB accounts before December.

• Had 9th grade Counselor assign a user name.

Test-Takers

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• Returned PSAT results in class meetings, using CB’s power point presentation.

• (This year and last year CB’s slides also had information about QuickStart.)

Class Meetings

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• Met with 11th graders for a tour of QuickStart. (1st semester)

• Incorporated QuickStart in College Planning sessions with eleventh graders. (2nd semester)

Small Group Meeting

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• Devised a PSAT/QuickStart worksheet to “encourage” students to use the program.

• (Takes about 15 minutes for a student to complete the worksheet.)

Clearing the First Hurdle

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• Projected SAT (or PSAT) scores

• Standing in state

• Five colleges with student’s major

• Major, related majors, related careers

• Student discoveries while using this resource

PSAT/QuickStart Worksheet

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• Counselors used worksheet to jumpstart individual counseling for SATs and college planning.

• Considering My Online Score Report and My College Matches for college counseling.

Implementation (Grade 11)

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• Counselors used worksheet for PSAT prep and career counseling.

• 10th grade Counselor used the ORA Personality Profiler for further career counseling with individual students.

Implementation (Grade 9 & 10)

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• User name and password problems: have students respond to prompts in QuickStart.

• Call College Board at 888-477-7728(8AM to 4 PM EST)

• Give: Name, DOB, SS#, school name, address, CEEB code, home address, phone, username, e-mail, PSAT access code, type of error or error code

Troubleshooting

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• Power point presentation for PSAT

• QuickStart tour

• QuickStart demo for Wednesday or Saturday test

• Worksheets: My Online Score Report, ORA Personality Profiler, My College Matches, My Majors

College Board Resources

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My College QuickStartGeneral Information

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My College QuickStart (for students) www.collegeboard.com/quickstart

My College QuickStart (for educators) http://professionals.collegeboard.com/k-12/prepare/quickstart

My College QuickStart Resources www.collegeboard.com/resources

My College QuickStart Demo Accountwww.collegeboard.com/reports

Web URL’s

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My College QuickStart Resources

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Access My College QuickStart resources from the College Board website:

Demo Account- see it for yourself

Lesson plans- lead students through specific sections of the tool

How-To Guides- show students how to set up their accounts and connect

Implementation Guide- discover best practices

Questions?

If you have further questions, please contact:

Mimi Lee – mlee@collegeboard.orgJennifer Brown – jbrown@collegeboard.org

Sister Constance Sabalauskas – sabalauskas@nazarethacademyhs.org

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