Choosing a college for the right or wrong reasons.

Recent winner of Cappex Recess, today’s guest blogger is Tricia H. from Athens,  W.Va. Here’s her advice on taking the ACT and SAT*:

The best advice that I could give on taking the ACT or SAT is to take it more than once, and take your first test no [later] than your junior year in high school. I did not take the ACT until my senior year, and by the time I got my results back, I did not have the chance to retake it and improve my score. I was required to take it for a very substantial scholarship that I missed out on.

My other piece of advice would be to know your weaknesses and focus your studying on that. If you are already strong in certain subjects, you won’t need to focus much more time than reviewing these subjects. That is where taking the test more than once comes in. Your scores will help you learn what you need to improve and what is already solid.

When I lost out on the scholarship, it was not because of my overall score, which was actually above what it needed to be. My math score was too low. That leads me to my final piece of advice: Know exactly what the requirements are of the school or scholarship that you are applying for. I was not aware that my scholarship required that I get certain scores on each part of the test.

Good luck to everyone getting ready to take either test!

Recess is a Thursday feature where we suggest a topic or question and ask students to submit a short essay about that subject that provides thoughtful advice to your classmates based on your experience. The winning submission’s author receives a coveted Cappex cap and is featured as a guest blogger.