Do You Make New Year Resolutions? Include a promise to work on test prep in the new year

The start of a new year and the end of the old one. Wow. It's a great time to reflect on the things you accomplished this year, what didn't go well, and what plans you have for the future.

I'm not really a fan of making resolutions, mostly because the word "resolution" seems to make it ok if you break a resolution in the first week after the New Year! I guess I just call them "goals" because it makes me work harder to meet them. If you use "resolutions" or "goals" or...something else, please include a promise to work on test prep in the new year.

Merry HanniKwanzaaChrismasFestivus!

If you're celebrating a holiday this week, enjoy!

The Push to Winter Break!

I think we've all been here before - we just came off of a great holiday, Thanksgiving (YUM!) and now it's time to work again for just a few more weeks until the next break. My advice is to keep focused and work on essay prep a little bit each day. Trust me, the work will pay off.

20 Days till the End of the Year

...and now is a good time to start thinking about next year. When are you taking your college admission tests (SAT, ACT?)? How much time have you left yourself to study for it?

The next SAT is January 24th, and the deadline for it is December 26th, 2008.
The next ACT is February 7th, but the deadline for it is January 6th, and even then - ARE YOU READY????

You have so many resources at your disposal! Check out testessayprep.com for more details.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs Part Three

In this post about jobs, I'm highlighting an article that describes blue collar jobs. "Blue collar" is a job classification that doesn't really mean much today, but it used to mean a labor-intensive job.

• Landscaper
• Metal Worker
• Subway operator (these jobs are starting to look good to me - they've turned up on several lists!)

and, of course, more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/09/01/cb.new.blue.collar/index.html?iref=newssearch

The article calls them "new jobs" but, in my opinion, they're not really new.

Gobble Gobble

Now that you're full of turkey.....

Catch up on some outside (non-classroom) reading when you wake up from your nap. Reading lots of different kinds of things can really help you pick up vocabulary quickly. So pick up a magazine - news magazines are great for this - and catch up on current events.

Enjoy your holiday!

Don't use SATs to rank college quality? So so true.

The SATs were originally designed to predict a high school student's freshman year performance. However, when colleges started to compile and publish statistics on their students, parents and others began to associate SAT scores with the quality of the college.

I'll just say this: just because a college or university reports that its students have high SAT scores doesn't make the students brilliant or the school a place only for geniuses. It doesn't mean that the school is higher quality than a school reporting lower average SAT scores for its students. And most importantly, the school might not be the right school for you.

Source: "Don't use SATs to rank college quality"

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/17/hawkins.tests/index.html?iref=newssearch

Are you bilingual? Use it to your advantage!

A lot of my blog posts in October were based on which jobs are hot - not now, but in the future.

This blog is mostly about writing in English, but if you are bilingual (you speak, read, and write in more than one language), you have so many opportunities ahead of you! I can't stress enough how valuable this skill makes you to potential employers. Be sure to put it on your college applications and your resumes.

There are many industries in real need of bilingual people, especially Spanish speakers, such as:

• education
• law enforcement
• healthcare
• every industry!

for more information, read this article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/09/10/cb.industries.bilingual/index.html

Girls blinded for wanting an education

I was completely outraged when I heard about two girls in Afghanistan walking to school who were blinded by some men throwing acid. Well, so that the emphasis is correct, I should write it this way: some men in Afghanistan threw acid on two girls walking on their way to school. See, the passive voice is useful because it lessens the impact of the person who is doing the action - in this case, some Afghan men who don't want girls to be educated.

According to the CNN article, the men targeted the girls because they were wearing school uniforms and used water guns to spray them with battery acid, which has blinded their eyes and burned their skin, not to mention burned through their clothes. I mention this story because education is important for everyone and it's important not to take it for granted.

The Election's Finally Here!

I don't know 'bout you, but I'm completely exhausted by all the election ads and talking about the elections. I'm just tired. But - tomorrow is an important day, and if you won't be voting because you're too young, encourage someone else to go. If you're old enough and you're registered, then make sure to vote!

10 most popular majors and what they pay

Check out this article - and then pick out the best major for you!

Economic Downturn Bad - Education is Always Good

I'm not sure what to make of this "economic downturn" - it's probably been coming for a while, and I'm no economist, so I won't speculate except to say this:

Whenever the economy gets a little worse, education becomes even more important.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs Part Two

Last week I showed you an article that highlighted some jobs that were high paying and didn't require several advanced degrees or decades of experience.

This week, I'd like to share with you some more jobs - these pay about $50,000 per year.

For example:
Librarians,
Teachers,
Sales Representatives,
Subway operators

and more!
source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/09/24/cb.jobs.pay.fifty.thousand/index.html

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

It's a fact: People with college degrees earn more over a lifetime than people with high school diplomas.

Jobs that pay well (about $70,000 per year) and don't require years and years of experience really do exist.

For example:
Advertising & Promotions Manager

Computer Systems Analyst

and more!
source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/08/27/cb.jobs.that.pay.70k/index.html

Why Writing Well is Good for Your Future: Your Job

Even the jobs that don't call for a "writer" right there in the job description probably require some form of writing, and that means that you'll need to be able to put together a sentence or two, and fast.


Your boss won't have the time to look over your work, but you can probably rest assured that glaring misteaks in a memo or a presentation, or even a billboard will anger your boss because it makes him or her and the company look unprofessional and unprepared. Your reader will probably excuse one or two small errors, but a lot of errors or just one obvious, easy fix can cause your reader to lose confidence in you, your writing, and the message you're trying to convey.

So, save yourself some future embarrassment by learning this skill: proofread your work quickly. A quick readthrough of your writing before handing it in will catch a lot of small errors.

Did you catch "misteaks" in the previous paragraph?

Writers In Residence

According to a BBC report from a few days ago, some schools have in-house writers to help young kids become better writers. It's fantastic, because then they learn to develop good habits. They also learn to shape their own writing style, and of course, learn to read. Do you think this kind of "scheme" as they call "plans" in Britain, would ever happen in the good ol' US of A?

School's In Session!

As much as we don't want to believe it....

Today in History: September 11

In the "Think About It & Write It!" guide, I describe the benefits of what I call "speed writing," where you write freely and quickly about a topic without worrying about grammar, punctuation, style - all the things that make people nervous about writing. I'm taking this day to do a little speed writing of my own to reflect on all the changes, both good and bad, that have happened since September 11, 2001. I have a friend who died on that day and I think throughout the year about his family and how even though these years have passed, the time probably doesn't lessen their pain. So I'm spending today hoping that all of the good that we do, even the little things, outweigh the bad.

Whew!

I don't know about you, but this school year has crept up on me, knocked my feet out from under me, and swept me away! Things are starting to settle down now that there's some repetition, but time is always marching on:

The deadline to register for the next SAT is coming up quickly! According to the CollegeBoard, Next Friday, Sept. 19 is the LATE deadline for the October 4th exam, only a few weeks away! But don't worry too much - there's still plenty of time to work on studying and getting your essay writing skills in gear. I work well under pressure - do you?

SAT scores stay at lowest level in nearly a decade? I'm not surprised.

I just read an article from a few days ago about SAT scores being so low. Who's surprised? Not this tutor. Not everyone can afford an expensive test prep program even though a LOT of kids want to go to college. The article shows a graph of dipping critical and math scores, but what's more important to me is the big dip on the graph for the Writing section. Students just aren't getting the info they need from schools to take a test, and teachers in schools shouldn't coach students to ace a standardized test. If they do, then they're not learning anything, and that's really unfortunate. What's also unfortunate is the sharp contrast in scores, with black students' scores being tragically lower than white and Asian students' scores.

Grammar strikes again!

Even though I think grammar is useful, it doesn't mean that I think about it all the time. When an article comes up that directly is talking about grammar, though, I pay attention.

The BBC reported today that a corporation is about to make a huge change in the way it does business. Tesco is a huge supermarket chain in Europe, and now it's considering changing the "10 items or less" to "Up to 10 items" which is more grammatically correct.

What's funny to me is that there is this kind of "Grammatical Activism" in the air - I don't know much about The Plain English Campaign, but I'm impressed that those folks were powerful enough to make a difference - even if it means educating someone on the difference between when to use "fewer" and "less." And kudos to Tesco for realizing that even small changes might be important!

"Fewer" is for things that can be counted individually: "I would like more points on the SAT."

"Less" is for things that can't be counted individually: "I would like less stress in my life."

The Olympics are over.....*sigh*

I always get this "let-down" feeling when something amazing ends. The Olympic closing ceremonies finished on Sunday, and it was the end to an Olympics that I think people will be talking about. In fact, I bet some people will be writing about it. Say....you could write about it as the subject of a test essay!

For example:
1) the perseverance of athletes winning medals against some tough competition
2) sportsmanship as part of the ideals of the Games
3) writing about your favorite athlete
4) examples of unsportsmanlike behavior at the Olympic games
5) China as a host to the world yet quelling protests and anything that stands in the way of a united, positive image.

and the list goes on and on! Here are only a few writing ideas to work into an essay.

Today's Oprah Show on The State of American Education: A "Shocking" Truth

If you saw today's Oprah Show (a rebroadcast from months ago), then you saw failing, crumbling schools right here in America. You're supposed to be shocked. But anyone who's done even a bit of investigation into why U.S. schools are failing or why students aren't learning or whether it's even a good idea to send their children to public school already knows that American schools are in a lot of trouble.

I really would like to meet some people who were shocked by the show, because they have sooooooo much to learn! I was especially sad to see a parent crying on national television because her child goes to school in a poor school district, so the school can't afford resources for its students. A few students in a similarly lousy school building were taking photos of the awful physical condition of the building. They weren't doing it to shame their principal, which I bet is what happened anyway, but to simply call attention to their school.

I felt really bad for the young woman who was valedictorian of her high school and then was floundering once she was in college. She felt like high school didn't prepare her at all for what was coming up in college. I see Test Essay Prep as something that is trying to fill some huge holes. I'm scared that the problem of education is so big, that it will take some time to reverse the negative effects. In the meantime, though, students drop out of school, some graduate, some go on to college, some drop out there, and some graduate from college. High school students who see college as one of their life goals need to be prepared for everything that could happen on the way to that goal - the SAT (or even just the SAT essay part!) is just one of those hurdles that can change a future. It's a lot of pressure, and a lot to think about.

I See "Back-to-School" Ads Already!!!

You know summer's about to take a turn for the worse when you see back to school ads on TV. 

But I guess the ad folks know something: start early = early success. And that's why it's probably a good idea to start thinking about school and those standardized tests you'll be conquering in a few months. So when you're not shopping for clothes and notebooks in August, take a look at what Test Essay Prep has to offer. Keep checking back here, too, for announcements about what new things we'll be rolling out.

*sigh*

I can't believe it all starts up again in about a month! Thanks for your support.

The Ivy League Tutor

Have A Great Summer!

I can't believe another school year is coming to an end. And it can't come soon enough! I know this probably isn't the time to think about the SAT, but find some books you've always wanted to read, find a shady spot to beat the heat or head to the beach, and read. 

You'll be surprised how many words you'll pick up and different ways to write just by reading what other people have written. 

If you need me, I'll be trying to finish the last Harry Potter book (yes, I'm still trying to get through it).

Free Look!

This is the first post to accompany the ebook Think About It & Write It sponsored by Testessayprep.com! My name is The Ivy League Tutor and I'm really glad you've come to the site and the blog. Writing isn't easy - no. Writing ain't easy, and it's even harder to do when you're under time constraints and when the topic is something you have to write about. You might think you have to pretend to be an expert, but all you have to do for a great essay is write quickly and effectively, and show that you have an opinion and that you can support it. That's it.


Think About It & Write It is designed to show students how to write a good standardized test essay - quickly.

If you're interested in downloading the free look, go back to Test Essay Prep and register to download it the first session of Think About It & Write It. It's free! And you can't beat that.