If you have a middle school or high school student in your homeschool, you’re probably trying to find your way through the alphabet soup of college entrance exams. This week on Home School Heartbeat, HSLDA President Mike Smith and his guest offer explanations and advice to prepare your student for high school testing.
Mike Smith:
This week, I’m joined by Becky Cooke, a homeschool mom who graduated her three children from high school. She now advises other homeschool parents making that journey through HSLDA’s Homeschool Thru High School program. Becky, welcome to the program!
Becky Cooke:
Thank you, Mike, for the opportunity to be on today.
Mike:
Becky, when families with high school students start looking at college entrance exams, the options can be quite confusing. There’s the SAT, ACT, PSAT, and SAT II. Can you explain the difference between these tests?
Becky:
Let me begin with the SAT and the ACT, which are the two major college admissions tests. The SAT is a reasoning test; whereas, the ACT is a knowledge-based test covering English, math, reading and science.
The SAT II, which has been renamed the SAT Subject Tests, may also be required of applicants. These tests are given in a particular subject area such as literature, biology, U.S. history and so forth.
Now, the PSAT test is not required for college admission so a student doesn’t have to take this test. The PSAT is the test taken in the junior year of high school to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship.
Mike:
Becky, thanks for joining me today to shed some light on this subject! I look forward to talking more about this next time. And until then, I’m Mike Smith.
