TIMING AND TEST PREP PROGRAMS
The guidance department has recently concluded the sophomore conferences.  Some of our discussion with families centers on the question of prepping for the PSAT and SAT.  This is a great time for us to make some general observations about test prep considerations.

All of our sophomores and juniors take the PSAT in mid-October every year.  We have two purposes in administering a junior level test to our sophomores.  The first reason is that we do believe practice and exposure are good for our students.  The second reason is that we do want to identify our sophomores who score well on the sophomore PSAT and ask those girls and their families to consider taking a test prep program before they take their junior PSAT.  These students are potential National Merit candidates and we want to do everything we can to help them reach the selection index number that can qualify them for this recognition.  We assist those families by sponsoring a test prep program administered by Kaplan, Inc. at our school that runs in the fall of their junior year.

It is not our intent to discourage all sophomores from prepping.  It is our philosophy to advise parents and their daughter about the best time to prep.  Most of our sophomores should wait to do a prep program prior to taking the SAT in the spring of their junior year.  Since the PSAT scores are never seen by colleges and universities, we believe that with few exceptions (like trying to get to National Merit numbers), a prep program for the PSAT does not always make sense.  We do leave the final decision about this to each and every family.

In addition to the PSAT, we offer a mock PSAT to our juniors the last Saturday in September.  We also offer a one-day prep class for the SAT and the ACT through Sycamore Learning Company in January and February of your daughter's junior year.  Finally, we have a prep program in the Naviance account of our students so that they can prep for the SAT and the ACT without incurring any additional expense.

If you have specific questions relating to your daughter and prepping, please contact her counselor.

Student Reflection Sheet - Part A is due for Juniors!
Junior students are reminded that Part A of their reflection sheet is due to us on May 1, 2012.  Part B will be released on the website on June 4, 2012.  Students are reminded to be thoughtful and thorough when completed both parts of their reflections as this greatly aids their counselor when she is writing their letters of recommendation in the fall.  The reflection sheet can be found in the Counseling section of the website under "Spring/Summer Packet."

Madonna Day Information Needed for Seniors
Although most of the seniors have submitted their scholarship information for Madonna Day, there are some students who have yet to turn in their paper work and verification of these scholarships. In the Madonna Day program, we will list all of these scholarships (without numeric value). We are asking students to not only list the name and university/college/organization giving the scholarship, but also to provide a copy of the letter to verify the information. Please encourage your daughter to complete this form and return it with the appropriate letters to the counseling office.