When registering for SAT tests, make sure that you include EABJM's school code which is 731595. If you are registering to take a test at EABJM, the test center code is 57-519. It is not necessary to fill out all of the statistical information regarding your year in school, grades, etc.

Most selective colleges require the SAT Reasoning Test (or a similar test called ACT) and two (sometimes three) SAT Subject tests. SAT test results are an extremely important factor in college admissions. They combine with grades to form an academic snapshot of a student. As you will find out in exquisite detail when you read Michele Hernandez' A is for Admission, many colleges compute an academic index (AI), which gives equal weight to SAT Reasoning Test scores, average SAT Subject tests scores, high school grades, and, when available, class rank (we do not rank students at EABJM).

Silly as it may seem considering that grades represent over three years of work, standardized test scores can thus make up two-thirds of the AI. There is an explanation. Over the past decade, the college admissions process has become more and more competitive: applications to Ivy League schools, for example, have surged over fifty percent while enrollment has remained the same. In that period, average subtest SAT scores for highly selective colleges have risen from the mid 600's to well over 700 (out of a maximum of 800). The following table illustrates the selectivity of a sample of top schools. "Midrange" indicates the scores of admitted students at the 25th and 75th percentile; e.g., 25 percent of students admitted at Georgetown obtained verbal (critical reading) SAT scores above 740.

College	Admit rate	Early type	Early admit rate	SAT verbal midrange	SAT math midrange	SAT subject tests	TOEFL
Harvard	10%	SCEA	23%	700-790	700-790	3	No
Yale	10%	SCEA	18%	690-790	690-790	3	>250
Stanford	12%	SCEA	na	680-770	690-780	ML2+1	Recom.
MIT	14%	EA	14%	680-760	730-800	M+Science	<233
Princeton	11%	ED	29%	680-770	690-790	3	Yes?
Georgetown	22%	EA	25%	640-740	640-730	2 or 3	Yes
U Chicago	46%	EA	40%	670-770	660-760	na	>250
Barnard	27%	ED	41%	650-730	620-700	2	>250
NYU	29%	ED	31%	610-700	610-710	Recom. 2	>250
Tufts	27%	ED	45%	640-730	650-740	2	Yes

Although many colleges are reluctant to acknowledge it, the truth is that the increasing geographic and socio-demographic diversity of the growing applicant pool, combines with rampant grade inflation to make it extremely difficult to judge an applicant’s grades and recommendations unless the school is well known to admissions officials. Standardized test scores consequently become benchmarks, the “common currency” of college applications.
 

What are these tests?

• The SAT Reasoning Test is a four-hour multiple-choice test, which purports to assess the verbal reasoning, critical reading and writing skills, as well as mathematical/logical abilities of high school students. Whether it does or does not do so is a moot point; what matters is that scores are important.
• The SAT Subject tests assess knowledge rather than aptitude. These one-hour-long multiple-choice tests are offered in twenty-two subjects in five different areas—English, history, mathematics, sciences, and languages.

SAT tests may be taken as many times as one wishes until the fall of terminale, and colleges only consider the best scores achieved (including, for the SAT Reasoning Test, the best combination of sub-scores). Students may take up to three SAT Subject tests at one sitting (we advise against taking more than two), but may not take them at the same sitting as the SAT Reasoning Test. The dates for SAT’s, which are offered six times per year (seven in the US), can be found at http://www.collegeboard.com/.

More than 160 colleges require SAT Subject tests for all applicants. Most of these colleges require two SAT Subject tests. Several universities, however, including Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Williams and Yale currently still require three subject tests. But college requirements change periodically, so you must check the most current SAT Subject tests requirements - both number of tests and subjects - of the colleges you intend to apply to at http://www.collegeboard.com/prof/counselors/apply/12.html, one of the most useful sites around.

The PSAT (preliminary SAT) is administered only once a year, in mid-October, and may be taken up to three times: in troisième, seconde, and première. Its format is similar to that of the SAT Reasoning Test. Results are reported to colleges on a voluntary basis, so taking the test is great practice for the SAT Reasoning Test. For US citizens, the PSAT is also the National Merit Scholars Qualifying Test (NMSQT). For all others, the PSAT is just practice for the SAT.

The top 50,000 PSAT scores (out of 1.3 million) qualify for various forms of National Merit recognition (letter of commendation, semifinalist, finalist, and winner), which do become part of a student’s college application.

Further PSAT/NMSQT information may be found at http://www.nationalmerit.org/.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) measures the ability of nonnative speakers of English to use and understand English as it is spoken, written, and heard in college and university settings. The TOEFL Internet-based test (TOEFL iBT) was introduced in 2005 and tests all four language skills that are important for effective communication: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. It replaces the computer-based TOEFL. Each section of the new Internet-based test is graded on a 0-30 scale, for a total of 0-120 (vs. 0-300 for the computer-based test).

Who should take the test?

Each college sets its own TOEFL policy, often depending on a student's nationality, course of studies (French Bac or IB) or mother tongue. A college's most current policy must be checked directly on that college's website (usually at Admissions/Undergraduate/International Students). Score requirements vary also from one school to the next. As a rule of thumb, a score of 110 on the TOEFL iBT is equivalent to a score of 270 on the previous computer-based test, which was the minimum score required by most institutions.

Additional information available through the toefl website.

AP’s are increasingly important in the US college application process. The French curriculum, and even the IB curriculum, however, do not constitute good preparation for these exams, either in curriculum content or in mode of evaluation. Colleges know this and do not expect our students to sit AP exams. Accordingly, with rare exceptions, students should not sit AP exams in the hope of achieving a decent score in a favored discipline. Poor scores will hurt!

For those students who, in spite of this warning, feel strong enough to tackle the additional preparation required, here are a few facts and figures about AP’s. AP exams are administered each year in May by The College Board in thirty-four subjects in nineteen areas, including English, history, math, economics, biology, chemistry, physics, Latin and several languages. Most AP exams consist of a multiple-choice section, which usually accounts for about fifty percent of the total grade and a free-response section, which, in the humanities usually consists of three short essays to be completed in a total of two hours. Details are available at http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/.

The curriculum for each exam is developed (and reviewed every five years) in cooperation with a participating group of colleges in order to provide students with introductory semester-long or year-long college courses in the corresponding subject. Accordingly, depending on scores achieved (from 1 to 5), colleges may grant students either advanced placement status (the right to enroll directly into advanced courses) or credits (points toward a degree permitting early graduation). Credits and advanced placements policies vary greatly among colleges and even among departments within a college.