Taking a break from test prep to muse a bit about choosing schools.  So many of us who just "went to the local middle school and high school" are now faced with a great deal of school choice when it comes to our own kids' middle school and high school. Given how terrible the middle school years can be, and how critical the high school years can be, how does one make these choices?

The answer, of course, depends a lot on the kid and the school, and a choice that is perfect for one family could be the absolutely wrong choice for another.  So, I have no magic solution here.  But, these are the issues I like to throw out (in no particular order) as families ponder these decisions. 

In the last post we talked about ways to construct a good sample (or critique a bad sample!). 

There is one other way that SAT tests students about sampling: it asks students to draw conclusions about a population based on results from the sample. 

The principle here is simple: if a sample is random and large enough, results from the sample should generalize to the population:

When I was in grad school, I took a research methods class in the public policy school. I had learned about different types of sampling at some point (Undergrad? High school?  Who knows?), but this was the first time I had ever analyzed how samples worked and how taking different samples would affect what you could say about your research results. It was a great class -- and I still use information from that class when I think about studies that I read about in the news -- but the information felt like what one learns while getting a doctorate in sociology (or maybe a masters in public policy), not something that the average person knows. 

So, imagine my surprise when a lot of that material showed up on the SAT. 

Who doesn't love a frequency table?

What is a frequency table.  It's a table that shows you frequency: how often something happens.  This is the sort of frequency table and question you might see on the SAT.

The students in a class took a survey about the number of pets that they have.  The table below shows the results of the survey:

One of the biggest changes to the new SAT is the addition of a good number of statistics and research design questions. Although most SAT math is now algebra, statistics have surpassed geometry as the second most tested math type. 

The problem? Students learn very little about statistics in school. And, even students who take AP stats usually take it AFTER they take the SAT.

So, what do students need to know?

Critically, all students should be able to read all kinds of graphs and charts: pie charts, line charts, bar charts, scatterplots, stem-and-leaf plots, box-and-whisker plots, frequency tables, and two-way frequency tables. 

 Probably the biggest different between the SAT and the ACT is in the math sections. 

When people talk about SAT and ACT being different, this is usually what they are talking about.  Not only do the sections vary in content, but they also seem to test different types of thinking skills. It's in the math section that one might say that SAT is easier for people who are naturally good at puzzles and word problems.  ACT seems a better fit for those who have strong math skills and can execute problems through trigonometry. 

But, let's start with the organization, format, and timing. 

The essays on both the ACT and the SAT are optional -- you choose if you are going to write the essay when you register for the test (it costs more if you add the essay). Many colleges and universities REQUIRE the essay. It's worth the extra \$14 (SAT) or \$16.50 (ACT) to add the essay, just in case you want to apply to a school that requires it. 

But, which essay is easier?

The essays are quite different. 

When we were little, we would run to our parents and declare, "Me and Justin want ice cream!" and immediately, before even dealing with the emergency issue of ice cream, our parents would say, "Justin and I."  And thus, we were trained, when you include yourself and someone else in a statement, you never say "me."  You always say "I."

You won't get corrected if you say: " Justin and I" or "Katie and I."  But, is that always the correct way to refer to your self and someone else? 

As 12th grade approaches so do college applications -- and the process of writing college essays.

The process is a hard one for most students. Who wants to write about themselves? Frankly, who wants to even think that hard about themselves? How do you make yourself sound fabulous and  unique at a time when you feel very much like a number in a system?

Who hasn't heard (or said) something like "Everyone needs to take their shoes off!" or "No one has had their dinner yet!"?

In English, we struggle with pronouns. We have lovely gender-neutral plural pronouns, like "they," "their," and "them,"* but all of our singular pronouns are gendered (or 'it,' and who wants to be an it?).

To make matters even more complicated, we have indefinite pronouns,  like "everyone," which seem to capture lots of people, but are actually singular ("everyone" means each and every one... one, singular).

So, when the subject of a sentence is "everyone" or "no one," which are both singular, the verbs and pronouns that go with those subjects should be singular also.