Frequently Asked Questions

You will be assigned to your college advisor in the spring of your sophomore year. Your class will be divided among Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Davis, Dr. Honig, Ms. Messinger, and Mr. Stephens.

If you are in ninth grade, it is really too early to focus on the college process -- enjoy your high school experience! Through Applerouth Tutoring, the college office offers a free diagnostic SAT and ACT exam to sophomores in the spring to help students and families think about whether a student should test and which test to focus on. These diagnostic exams come with a complimentary call with Applerouth Tutoring; however, sophomores are welcomed to talk with their advisor about the results. If freshman and sophomores have additional questions that they feel cannot wait until junior year, they can come down to the College Office. All of the college advisors are happy to speak to any student at any time about college- or testing-related matters. Parents may email or call with any questions.

No. Students are not required to take the SAT or ACT and can decide not to submit test scores even if they do. In fact, the majority of schools are test optional, which means students can apply to a test optional school without submitting an SAT or ACT score. Each year, many Ramaz students successfully apply to college without standardized tests. Some of these students never took an SAT or ACT. Other students did take the SAT or ACT but were unhappy with their results. If you decide to apply to college without standardized test scores, your college advisor can help you craft a college list that only includes test optional schools.

A common sequence for SAT testing is once or twice in the junior year and, if necessary, once in the summer or fall of the senior year. February or April of your junior year is a good time to take your first ACT exam. This allows time in September or October of senior year to take it again.

Colleges value these two exams equally, so take the exam that you feel more confident taking.

The material covered on the SAT and ACT overlaps significantly. The primary differences between the New ACT and the New SAT are:

• The ACT allows less time per question than the SAT.
• The New SAT includes a section of Math that must be solved without a calculator.
• The New SAT is an adaptive exam that must be taken on a computer. The ACT is not adaptive and can be taken either on paper or on a computer. Students who take the ACT at Ramaz will only take the paper version.

Often, the best way to choose between these two exams is to take a practice of each, which is why sophomores are offered free diagnostic exams at Ramaz on two Sundays in the spring. The feel or format of one is usually more comfortable for a student. Consult your college advisor about making this decision.

Not necessarily. Students taking the ACT have the option to choose which test date's scores to report to colleges. Students taking the SAT have a similar option to choose which tests to send to colleges, although some colleges are requesting applicants to report all scores. Just remember not to get too caught up in taking and retaking these tests numerous times, as your transcript is the most important part of college admissions evaluations.

Some colleges allow students to self report scores at the time of application while others require official scores to be sent. It is always the student's responsibility to make sure that test scores are reported to colleges. Students do so for the SAT through the College Board (www.collegeboard.com) and for the ACT through the American College Testing Program (www.actstudent.org) websites. Consult with your advisor before reporting any scores to colleges.