Highlights from NACAC 2019

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) Conference is the largest conference focused on college admissions where educators and advisors gather to discuss the latest news and trends in the college admissions world. Since LogicPrep is a proud member of NACAC, we attend each year - this year was the 75th National Conference in Louisville, KY and I learned many exciting and important announcements. Here are some of the highlights from the NACAC 2019 Conference:

Early Decision --- Who Really Benefits?

Early Decision can be a difficult decision to make -- after all, it is a binding commitment to a school. The gravity of this decision involves plenty of conversations discussing various factors, conversations that should be had with someone who knows how to navigate the college landscape and students should take careful consideration before making this commitment. In a panel that featured Tulane (which has Early Decision and Early Action), USC (has only Regular Decision), and two guidance counselors (one from a top public school and one from a top private school), the merits of Early Decision were debated.

With the exception of Tulane, the panel took the side that Early Decision is a lot of work to accomplish (one counselor stated that they “do not shepherd students through the process, they simply don’t have time”), especially when students have so little contact with their guidance counselors. 

For those students that are able to start on their college search process sooner rather than later, Early Decision is a great tool that families can leverage. The Tulane representative reaffirmed the idea that Early Decision is “the ultimate demonstrated interest” and therefore statistically yields a higher acceptance rate. If a student applies Early Decision and gets deferred to the waitlist, the Tulane Admissions Officer said that they try to make their process as transparent as possible so students are updated on their status and then able to further navigate their college application process. This is the consensus across the board for most colleges as well, that it is a tool for both the students and the colleges which they’ll continue to use heavily, especially as schools take upwards of 50% of their class in Early Decision. 

Early Decision is a great option for students to reach for a school that they otherwise might not have gotten into in Regular Decision, as long as it is approached with the right amount of preparation and thoughtfulness. 

SUPERSCORING

This year, the ACT acknowledged that old research did not recommend superscoring, but their most recent findings encourage schools to accept superscoring. The reason that we've seen a split in schools that superscore the ACT and schools that don't is that, initially, the ACT recommended that colleges shouldn't superscore, but some decided to anyway. With this shift in recommendation and reporting from the ACT, I anticipate that more schools will change their policy on ACT superscoring, but it will most likely take a little time.

In fact, they found that superscoring rather than one composite score most accurately depicts a student’s first year GPA, and the ACT has rolled out their new policy on superscoring. Of course, every school still has its individual policy on submitting test scores, but we’ll make sure to update you if and when a college decides to change theirs!

INTRODUCING THE PREACT 8/9 and PREACT

The ACT has created the PREACT 8/9 for 8th and 9th graders and the PREACT made for 9th graders (most likely to be taken in the spring) and 10th graders in hopes to empower students and familiarize them with the test. 

This is similar to the PSAT, which is a preliminary version of the SAT and is typically offered free of cost to high school Sophomores & Juniors each fall to better prepare them for when they take the SAT their Junior or Senior year. Of course, neither are mandatory and are just another way to familiarize yourself with the standardized testing world (and if you’re not sure whether or not you want to take any of these “pre” exams, see what Roger has to say about the PSAT.

These scores will provide insight into a student’s predicted performance on the actual ACT when they take it their Sophomore or Junior year. It will have a similar format as the ACT, including all four sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science, and range on the 1-36 scale. The test results will identify strengths and weaknesses and help students and their families create a better vision and trajectory of their high school path.

Here’s the breakdown of the exam:

Mathematics: 40 minutes
Science: 30 minutes
English: 30 minutes
Reading: 30 minutes

It will be made available to states, districts, schools, third party agencies, and others. Find out more and register at knowledge.act.org.

ACT ACADEMY

In March 2018, the ACT launched the ACT Academy, a blended learning platform that not only tests for academic strengths, but also social and emotional skills. The platform is built around a student’s individual process and takes into account how each student is doing by the data collected, similar to how LogicPrep presently tracks our students’ progress through past mistakes and tracking topics they may struggle with.

Essentially, it is another test preparation source for the ACT and provides learning opportunities through different mediums such as practice tests, videos, and even games. The ACT Academy markets itself as a program that personalizes itself to each student. Learn more about the software here.

APPLYING TO THE UK

You might have seen already, but Oxford topped the global university rankings.

The admission representatives of Oxford and Cambridge spoke to what they look for in their applicant pool. They noted that they look past legacy and demonstrated interest, and instead focus on how your academic ventures tie into your interests as a whole (extracurriculars, outside reading, etc.).

When creating your personal statement for schools like Oxford or Cambridge, write with an academic lens, focusing on your motivation for the program you are applying to and how your current studies and outside reading have influenced the decision of your academic pursuit. Take a reflective approach! In terms of extracurriculars, talk about your work experience and how it ties into your future plans -- the two should come together, as you want to talk about how the skills you’ve gained from your work experience will help you in the long run. 

Schools like Oxford and Cambridge are interested in measuring and examining how you think. They are looking for a strong body of written work or experience that shows your interest in your field and will offer interviews only to strong candidates -- there are no interviews without intention!

Anyone else on college admissions information overload? We’re so excited about these changes and look forward to learning more from NACAC in the future. If there’s anything you see above that you have questions about, feel free to reach out here!