SAT Practice: Kaplan's College Edge



		In this issue:

			Admissions

			SAT/ACT* Tips

			Flash Card

			Campus Visit

Sponsored by kaptest.com/college.

Your Financial Aid Bill of Rights

Although the costs of college can sometimes seem criminal, it's important to know that when it comes to student financial aid, you do have some rights. Know these rights and ensure that they are being honored by the colleges, federal and state institutions, and financial institutions.

In general you have the right to:

Assume that all records and data submitted with financial aid applications are treated as confidential information
Accept or decline any offer of financial aid
Be notified before cancellation of aid and to be notified of the reason for cancellation


	Admissions

	The Importance of your Junior Year Grades: Fact or Myth? Here's a common college application myth: If by second semester of junior year your GPA isn't so hot, it's too late to bring it up. The fact is that most colleges look for a trend in high school academic performance, and they place great importance on improvements made to an academic record during the second semester of junior year. So if your transcript to date is not stellar, it may not be too late to bring up your GPA. Do whatever is necessary—stay in some weekends to study, go to your teachers for help, do an extra-credit assignment, or invest in a tutor. In fact, even if you started out poorly (freshman English was not supposed to be that tough!) or faltered somewhere along the way (your 10th-grade bio teacher totally had it in for you), a steady trend of improvement can go a long way towards erasing those poor freshman or sophomore year grades. Admissions officers will be much more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you finally got your act together as high school progressed. This means that the weight placed on your grades gradually increases, making first semester of senior year the most important, then second semester junior year. Depending on if you apply early or not, one of these will be the last set of grades the admissions officers see—and the one most likely to stick in their minds as an accurate measure of your ability and work ethic. Read more about college admissions myths. College Admissions Consulting Want personalized guidance with your applications? We can match you with a seasoned college admissions consultant who can give you the specific help that you need�whether it's finalizing your school list, developing a winning essay, or preparing for an interview. Submit your applications with confidence! For more information, visit kaptest.com/collegeadmissions.
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	SAT/ACT Tips

	Be Careful When Skipping Questions A common mistake on the SAT and ACT is filling in all of the questions with the correct answers—in the wrong spots. If you need to skip a question, do so with care, making sure that you don't bubble in your answers to the questions following the skipped question in the wrong spots on the answer sheet. Whenever you skip a question, circle it in your test booklet and make doubly sure that you skip it on the answer grid as well, or else your hard work on other questions will go to waste.
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			garner (v.) to gather and store. The director managed to garner financial backing from several different sources for her next project.

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	Campus Visit

	Pomona College Location: Claremont, CA Web Site: www.pomona.edu Class of 2009: Applied: 5,054 Enrolled: 383 Number of Undergraduates: 1,543 Male-to-Female Ratio: 49% men / 51% women If you think all top liberal arts colleges are on New England campuses with golden fall foliage and gargoyle-laden Gothic buildings, check out Pomona College. Offering a liberal arts education equal to the top Northeast liberal arts schools, Pomona is located in Southern California—and that means palm trees and sunshine. And because it shares resources with the other schools in the Claremont consortium, Pomona students get the best of both worlds: a small campus community with all the resources of a large research university. Students report that the workload is "hard, but doable." While the courses are demanding, these students, who were all near the top of their high school class, seem to enjoy the challenge. "We're all pretty smart people," acknowledges one student. However, Pomona's competitive academics don't interfere with the casual environment outside the classroom; you'll usually find students hanging around on lawns and in courtyards, barbecuing, or playing Frisbee. The student body at Pomona is exceptionally diverse, with minorities representing over one-third of the student body. Forty percent of students come from California, but the school is steadily attracting more students nationwide (particularly from New York, Massachusetts, and Texas). And why shouldn't it? With superior academics, sunny weather, and a motivated, friendly student body, there's plenty at Pomona to call students westward.
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