High School Plan for Second Semester

January is the start to a new semester for all students, and it is also marks an important month for high school students. Regardless of what year the student is in, it indicates a new start for not only grades in classes, but also an emphasis on preparing for the next steps. This article will summarize some things that students in each year of high school should start thinking about, and also provides some reminders and warnings for each year.

9th Grade

It is common for students first entering High School to simply take courses that are recommended by their counselors. However, oftentimes these recommendations do not take into consideration the school’s own prerequisites for Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate courses.  Instead most recommended classes are chosen to instead prioritize the various prerequisites for graduation (i.e. Physical Education, Life Sciences, etc) without considerations for the need of future flexibility.

While it may seem perfectly fine to passively accept default class schedules, current 9th grade students must take the time to plan ahead for classes they wish to take in the coming years as well as seriously consider whether or not they are prepared for the rigor of more difficult courses.  AP and IB courses are not courses to be taken lightly, as they are considered the introduction to college level academic material. The positives for taking such courses include increased GPA, credit that can be counted during college, and stronger preparation for actual college when the time comes. Even with such benefits, it is best to start looking into the curriculum of the AP and IB courses available at the student’s respective high school in order to see if the student would be able to handle the course load. It must also be emphasized the possible importance of previewing the AP or IB content during the summer, so that the student has an easier transition going into 10th grade.

Even with such preparation, students tend to underestimate the rigor and time needed in order to do well in an AP and IB classes. Many times, I have seen students, after taking their first exam without preparation, start with a Fail or D in their first test. It is important to start learning the study habits and train for the mental endurance necessary to start strong in the AP or IB course. Royal Education understands and works to provide this type of guidance to all of its students.

Also, it is recommended that students, if they are not already involved in extracurricular activities, start being involved in multiple organizations. It will not only allow 9th grade students to grow as individuals, but also give them the opportunity to start working towards gaining leadership positions and responsibilities.

10th Grade:

10th grade is the year that most students first become exposed to the rigors of AP or IB courses. It is important to adapt study habits and courses loads based on how students did during their first semester of 10th grade. For example, if the student did not do well in their AP or IB History course, then it is recommended that the student consider transitioning to Honors History the year afterwards. Such decisions will allow the student to be able to focus on doing better in the courses that they are stronger in, while having more time to lead or grow in outside activities and extracurricular ventures.

It is also highly recommended that sophomore students immediately work to get involved in extracurricular activities if they have not started to do so yet. The time window for leadership positions in most activities close after the sophomore year. By being involved in these activities, it gives students the chance to be exposed to different fields and solidify what they may be passionate in. This can provide them more direction as to what major they would want to do in college, and potentially as a career.

11th Grade:

In this semester, 11th grade students should have adapted to the rigor of the coursework along with extracurriculars they are involved in. Also, the planning for 12th grade curriculum tends to become more straightforward as specific courses such as Government / Economics are usually required in the school. It becomes important that juniors continue to work hard to get good grades and to push towards getting leadership roles in organizations they have been committed to since their earlier years.

Asides from this, it is also important to start planning for the complexities of 12th grade. As 12th grade students tend to max out their possible workload with AP or IB courses along with leadership positions in extracurriculars, it is still important for students to start planning out their college plans. I highly recommend that students start looking over potential colleges they may be interested in, and to even start familiarizing themselves with the college application process. The college application process is long and sometimes tedious, involving selecting colleges that match the student’s interests, filling out applications, and working on multiple essays. It is recommended that during the summer that upcoming 12th grade students get college counseling, and Royal Education is proud of its record and the work that we have done to support students to be successful in the college process.

12th Grade:

During the second semester of 12th grade, there tends to be a common trend that occurs among seniors. Oftentimes referred to as “senioritis,” it usually occurs when students in their senior year end finally finish all of their college and scholarship applications. Many 12th grade students end up unmotivated and unwilling to put their full effort into their second semester classes, believing that they are all set for colleges. At times, it is also due to the burn out from taking on many rigorous courses, extracurriculars, and college applications at the same time.

Even though it is understandable why “senioritis” occurs, this is a huge and possibly fatal mistake. It cannot be stressed enough that 12th grade students must still put their full effort in their courses and extracurriculars. Even though it may be the case that college decisions come out during the second semester before their grades are even reported, colleges still reserve the right to reject students based on their second semester academic record.

In the University of California (UC) website, the conditions for admissions to a UC has a minimum GPA requirement of 3.0 for California residents. This also includes the assumed expectation that students do not receive a D or Fail in any courses unless extenuating circumstances arise, which requires students to report it to the university in advance. In other schools, the assumption is made that students accepted to their respective university are expected to maintain a GPA similar to what was submitted for admissions. If these conditions are not met, universities are allowed to rescind their admissions during the summer after the student has graduated from high school.

Royal Education hopes that these suggestions and warnings were helpful for your child. If your child is struggling in any academic courses or needs advising to prepare for the college application process, we believe that we can do the best job in supporting your child. If you have any questions or want to schedule a meeting, feel free to reach out to us in the following social media. We hope to hear from you!

Website: www.royaled.net

Phone Number: (818)-275-3424

Facebook: www.facebook.com/royaleducationinc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/royaleducation

SAT or ACT - Which One to Take?

There are currently two types of exams that students can choose from in order to be considered for most colleges in the United States - SAT and ACT. While there has been constant debate as to whether SAT or ACT is favored, research has shown that both generally have been weighed equally in the college admissions process. After taking this into consideration, whether your student should take the SAT or ACT exam becomes more nuanced, focused upon a number of factors that I will elaborate below.

1. Time Management

When students are taking either the SAT or ACT exam, Royal Education has noticed a consistent pattern when it comes to how long students take for each exam. Both exams, without breaks and including essay, are lengthy (ACT being 3 hours and 35 minutes, and SAT being 3 hours and 50 minutes). That being stated, we have noticed that SAT tends to give students less pressure on time.

This can be attributed to the number of questions that students have to finish for each exam. The charts below will show you the breakdown for the number of minutes along with number of questions for each section for the two exams:

When creating the comparison between SAT and ACT, it is evident that ACT is a lot more restrictive in time. When comparing the two sections that are labeled the same (Reading and Mathematics), the time difference is significant. In the ACT Reading portion, students are expected to finish 40 questions in 35 minutes (around 1 question per 52.5 seconds), while in the SAT Reading portion, students are expected to finish 52 questions in 65 minutes (around 1 question per 1 minute 15 seconds). In the ACT Mathematics portion, students are expected to finish 60 questions in 60 minutes (around 1 question per minute), while in the SAT Mathematics portion, students are expected to finish 58 questions in 80 Minutes (around 1 question per 1 minute 23 seconds).

This shows that students have less time on each ACT question than SAT question. While the SAT problems, especially in the Mathematics portion, are more verbose, students tend to be capable of finishing the SAT more easily.

1. Science Section

Additionally, it is evident that the ACT incorporates a section not seen in the SAT exam: Science. Royal Education has seen that students that especially are weaker in the sciences or are not as fast in data analysis tend to score low on this portion. Many times, this factor alone is enough for students lean towards taking the SAT rather than the ACT. But, it is important to note that we have also seen students who have found the Science section to be the easiest to improve their score on.

1. English Skills

While both SAT and ACT already measure students on their English capacity through the Reading and English / Writing & Language sections, the student’s strength in English can dictate whether to take one exam or the other. After SAT has incorporated the Common Core standards into many of its problem, this has caused many of SAT’s Mathematics problems to become lengthier, incorporating more word problems. While this may not be a significant enough of a factor to weigh the ACT over the SAT, it is something to be taken into consideration.

These are some distinctions that we feel will help guide your child on deciding whether to focus on the ACT or SAT. Dependent on each student, one exam may be easier in comparison to the other. We recommend that students, even if the student just started 9th grade, should start trying both exams to see which one is the better fit or easier to improve on.

With the Winter Break coming up for schools, please consider Royal Education as the place to go in order to have your child start or continue preparing for the SAT or ACT. The closest dates after Winter Break for each exam are the following: SAT Exam is on March 9th, while the ACT Exam is on February 9th. We have designed our Winter Session so that students can receive the necessary practice and targeted focus on common errors that students make. By doing so, our goal is for the students to be able to take the upcoming score and reach their fullest potential. Feel free to reach out to us through the following outlets if you have any questions about our services, or about anything else:

Website: www.royaled.net

Phone Number: (818)-275-3424

Facebook: www.facebook.com/royaleducationinc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/royaleducation

Common Student Errors in the College Application Process

It is currently November, a big month for many high school seniors. Among the academic obligations and extracurricular activities that seniors have to manage, many of them are currently working on University of California and California State University applications that are both due November 30th. To exacerbate the workload that seniors have, students are expected to navigate on the complexities of deciding whether they want to apply to more colleges, most of which are through the Common Application and each have different deadlines and essay requirements.

In this complex college application process supporting through the process, I have seen a consistent trend of mistakes that both students and parents make. The purpose of this article is to impart of some advice specifically regarding essays, in hopes that these suggestions will prevent students from making these errors that, at times, can negatively impact their chance for being accepted to the respective colleges they are applying to.

1. There is no “one” way to writing an essay. In the current influx of articles from individuals claiming that an essay must be written in a particular way in order to increase students’ chance to get accepted to a respective university, this is not true. The strongest essays that I have seen render the best results in acceptance rates have been those that are unique and individualistic. By having students write their essay in their own voice and perspective, it allow authenticity and personality to show in the essay.

2. Do not have someone else write your essay. This is something that I know a few parents and students request in college counseling services. In the end, it not only affects the authenticity of the essay (which is important to the college process), but can also raise alarm from the respective colleges. Many times, students’ writing styles are reflective of what they learned through academics and extracurriculars along with their academic and standard examination scores. For example, if a student’s academics and extracurricular show a specific personality type but the essays show a completely different disposition, it can cause admissions officers to completely discount the individual’s application for admissions.

3. Make sure that the essay is personable and answers the prompt. Students have the tendency to write essays similarly to how they would answer a standard essay at school. This is a huge error, especially since the purpose of personal statements is for admissions officer to get to better understand the students, from their personal difficulties to motivations. That being stated, students must also be careful to not be carried away while writing essays. At times, students have the tendency to focus on one aspect of the essay but disregard the prompt. In order to avoid this issue, I recommend that students have their essays checked by outside perspectives such as from peers and mentors.

4. Do not settle on the first draft. The first draft that students do tend to not be the best representation of the students’ messages or personality. Many times, I have told students to either start over on the essay or to keep a small portion of the initial draft. The reason is that the student tends to state things similarly to a list of accomplishments rather than focusing on the development process that led to these accomplishments. Students should be working through rewriting and testing different approaches towards delivering the same message in order to see which essay comes out best.

Royal Education hopes that this article was helpful for guiding students to do well on their college applications.We also want to state that it is not too late to receive the necessary help in college counseling. Royal Education is dedicated to providing the supports necessary to not only improve essays and college applications, but also ease the college application process. Feel free to reach out to us through the following outlets if you have any questions about our services, or about anything else:

Website: www.royaled.net

Phone Number: (818)-275-3424

Facebook: www.facebook.com/royaleducationinc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/royaleducation

College Counseling and Mathematics

Currently, there has been a notable trend in the increasingly competitive race to get into popular colleges, as acceptance rates drop and the number of applicants only continues to increase. With the current acceptance rates of last year’s University of California (UC) schools showing record low acceptance rates, it has become more apparent that receiving college counseling guidance and support as early as middle school and into high school is becoming more important to ensure that parents avoid making mistakes in their child’s academic progression and to ensuring that he/she is academically ready when the college application process comes around.

One common mistake parents make is assume that decisions made in middle school do not impact academic progress in high school. Math in particular causes a lot of issues in this regard, as dependent on the high school and type of mathematics that the school provides (whether it is standard or Common Core track), this will influence what classes the child will take. These are the two standard paths that occur when a student goes to a standard mathematics track high school:

Starting at Pre-Algebra in Middle School -> Standard Mathematics Track High School

Starting at 6th Grade Mathematics in Middle School -> Standard Mathematics Track High School

From the two charts, it is evident that if the child starts in 6th grade mathematics or Pre-Algebra, the type of courses that the student completes becomes an issue. If a student starts in 6th grade mathematics, the student will not only be unable to complete all of the mathematics courses that are provided in a normal high school and make them less competitive for colleges, but also will miss out on taking higher level math or Advanced Placement (AP) courses. AP courses specifically can boost the GPA and ranking of the student.

The situation can become even more complicated if the student ends up going to a high school that has Common Core curriculum in place. This would be the two potential paths if the student goes to a Common Core curriculum school:

Starting at Pre-Algebra in Middle School -> Common Core Standards High School

Starting at 6th Grade Mathematics in Middle School -> Common Core Standards High School

This pathing is the usual sequence that may exist in a high school using the Common Core State Standards for mathematics, but it may vary based on the name and course selections that the particular high school has. It becomes even more evident that a student who takes the 6th Grade Mathematics path may even fall behind more, not even completing the second semester in the Calculus course as indicated by the fact that they take (AP) Calculus A, and not the B portion. This is due to the design of the Common Core curriculum where Common Core Mathematics III involves the integration of both Algebra II and Pre-Calculus concepts. Students who take Common Core Mathematics III only complete the first semester of Pre-Calculus and are required to take the second semester of Pre-Calculus the year afterwards.

This situation goes beyond compromising the student as a competitive academic scholar in terms of math. Taking Pre-Calculus so late also means that the student has not completed Algebra 2 until the end of their junior year. This means that the student will likely be unable to score a desirably high score in the Math portion of the SAT or ACT test. Also, taking Pre-Calculus in the junior year will leave most students taking this track unable to score well on the more advanced SAT Subject Test Math 2. Both of these exams are oftentimes seen as important baselines for colleges to gauge a student’s math prowess.

We hope that this article helps with understanding the math progression for students. Royal Education is able to help in not only academic progression for your child, but also in other aspects, such as extracurricular and course selection through our college counseling service. If you happen to have any questions and / or inquiries, feel free to reach us through the following social media outlets:

Website: www.royaled.net

Phone Number: (818)-275-3424

Facebook: www.facebook.com/royaleducationinc

YouTube: www.youtube.com/royaleducation

Common Core and SAT – The Change to Mathematics

In the Spring of 2016, the College Board decided to shift the grading scale of the SAT from 2400 to 1600 and made a significant change in the content of the test. The intention of these changes is to make the exam more accurately reflect the expectations that colleges have for students. In order to do so, the exams were developed by two state consortia that based their curriculum around the Common Core.

In order to understand what this entails, it is best to compare practice problems that exist from the old and new SAT exam.

The problem above comes from the SAT Practice Test #1, published in 2015 on the College Board website. When analyzing standard word problems such as this one from an old SAT exam, it is important to note a few things. The question is a standard algebraic problem in which students must understand how to interpret parts of an equation. Even though the problem has four sentences, it is fast to recognize that only the last two sentences are needed in order to answer the problem. Much of the older SAT math problems, like this one, do not require much depth of understanding nor time in order to solve the problem. Most of the old SAT math problems cover concepts that exist in Geometry and Algebra II.

This sample problem above comes from the new SAT, available on College Board’s website. Simply viewing the question, it is evident that the five sentences in this problem are longer. But, what is more significant is that in this problem, the entire paragraph is needed in order to fully understand the scenario and solve the problem. Also, the problem requires students to conceptually understand a more advanced math concept from statistics called margin of error, and what happens to the margin of error when a sample size becomes bigger or smaller.

In the new SAT, it is similar to the old SAT in that it covers concepts that exist in Geometry and Algebra II. But, the application of Common Core expects students to understand how to apply mathematical concepts into real-life scenarios and understand when to use multiple mathematical concepts at once. Also, the Common Core State Standards have started to put more emphasis on Statistics, a topic that is usually not covered thoroughly in schools, if at all.

Due to these reasons, I recommend the following for students who are in their earlier years of high school and plan to take the new SAT:

1.       Practice on speed reading and reading comprehension. What this means is that students must learn how to read and comprehend many words in an efficient and effective way.

2.       Students should consider taking Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics earlier in their high school years, or at least set time to thoroughly practice on different statistical concepts that are covered on the SAT.

3.       Start practicing the SAT early. The more practice that students get on the SAT, the faster that students can learn from their mistakes and score higher.  This also gives students more time to figure out what concepts that they do not know and address their weaknesses.

If you happen to have any questions and / or inquiries, feel free to reach us through these means:

Address: 3810 Foothill Blvd., La Crescenta, CA 91214

Phone Number: (818) 275-3424

Website: www.royaled.net

Facebook: www.facebook.com/royaleducationinc

YouTube: www.youtube.com/royaleducation

University of California (UC): Record Low Admissions Rates

               In the 2017 – 2018 college application cycle, there was a noticeable change in the admissions process. According to Inside Higher Education, there were multiple personal accounts from college counselors that have noticed significant shifts in the caliber of students that were accepted. Much of the speculation as to what impacted the admissions process has been attributed to the increasing pool of applicants to the universities along with the incident that occurred in UC Irvine last year, in which the university ended up having too many students accept their admissions offer.

When looking at the admissions rate for several of the universities under the UC system, it is evident that there is a dramatic trend upwards of applicants to all of the schools. There has been a consistent increase of freshman applicants in the UC system, with schools such as UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) noticing an increase of 7,900 applicants especially from groups that have been traditionally underrepresented on campus. The chart below shows the exact numbers that were published by the University of California – Office of the President around July 10th:

The significance of the figures is that in all UC schools, admissions rates have dropped to their lowest percentiles. While specific schools such as UC Irvine had their admissions rate impacted heavily due to admitting less applicants between 2017 and 2018 (accepting 3,769 less applicants, thus a decrease of 7.8% in admissions rate), other universities such as UCLA percentiles were mainly influenced by a larger increase in applicants to the university (accepting 474 less applicants, but having a decrease of 2% in admissions rate). It is evident that while the issue that UC Irvine faced last year did significantly affect the admissions practice conducted at this specific university, this is not consistent throughout all of the UC system.

               After analyzing the data based on percentile admission of freshman on Race / Ethnicity in each respective university, there has been no significant change. This means that as a whole, the applicant pool to these schools has become significantly more competitive due to increased size and diversity. It is anticipated that percentages for admissions will only continue to decrease. It is because of this I strongly recommend that upcoming seniors take into consideration that they should be applying to more universities within California and start considering more out-of-state campuses which is especially important for applying to “reach” schools. Also important for consideration is that while applying to schools, seniors should absolutely apply to a healthy mix of “safety” schools as a safeguard.  Because of the increase in the number of applications that need to be done, I also encourage seniors to begin their application preparations early and start filing for financial aid, prepare application material, and write their essays in the summer.