Scarier than La Llorona y El Cucuy?

By Quetzal Mama • July 17, 2015

These Monsters Ain’t Got Nothing on “The Beast”!

What’s scarier than these guys? What monster can elicit fear and loathing by Latino students, their parents, and higher education advocates? It’s the beast we call college entrance exams. [Loud organs playing mysteriously]. These monsters are real and you should run. These monsters use their behemoth power to stomp and crush the dreams of Latino students hoping to earn admission to top universities. Their grip can strangle aspirations across the U.S. Just as our parents warned us of El Cucuy and La Llorona, I warn my students, “Beware of the SAT and ACT monsters! Cuidado con los monstruos!” Some listen. But, many ignore their beast’s power and foolishly enter the dungeon without proper armor or defense. I never hear from those students again – they get lost in the beast’s stronghold.

Ok, maybe I’m being a smidge overdramatic. I’ve been known to dramatize for effect, so let’s just agree that I’m trying to make a point. I don’t want to scare students, really. But I do want to share how the beast is real and how students can overpower him.

Back to the beast. I do despise this monster. I spit on his false potency. However, just like cockroaches that return relentlessly, the beast is here to stay (at least for now). As a lone warrior, I’m unable to kick the beast in the booty, so I’ve developed my own repellant to ward off the evil of these high stakes exams. My 3-part fumigation system called Awareness, Defense, and Eradication.

Awareness – The first step in navigating this beast is to recognize and appreciate his power. He often strikes unannounced, leaving victims caught off guard. Many students are completely unaware the last SAT test date before the Early Action applications deadline is October 3 and November 7 and that December 5 is the final date to test for January 1 admission consideration. The second step is for opponents to be aware they can traverse the beast’s obstacle course in a “trial run” before the big exam. Yes – that means the PSAT. You get one shot to test your wits before encountering the real beast. The obstacle course is the third week in October each year.

Many unwitting students rely on false security, believing the beast is simply a benign college ritual and ignore the importance of a proper score. They are unaware the 2014 national average for US Students was 21 for ACT and 1510 for SAT. Or, that the 2014 national average for Latino students was 18.8 for ACT and 1354 for SAT. Sadly, the beast has taken down many great warriors. But, a few overcame the beast and avoided becoming a battle casualty. These scores represent the “wins”:

Campus Average SAT Average ACT

Harvard University 2120 (low) to 2400 (high) 32 (low) to 35 (high)

Stanford University 2070 (low) to 2350 (high) 31 (low) to 34 (high)

UC Berkeley 1840 (low) to 2240 (high) 27 (low) to 33 (high)

Defense – Never, ever, ever, approach the beast without proper defense. Being aware is only part of the battle. We must also understand what we’re up against, in order to develop a proper defense against the beast. To do this, we need to know the beast’s weaknesses. His weakness is the Math portion. The beast cannot tolerate a strong math score in the range of 600 plus on the SAT or a 30 plus math score on the ACT.

Another defense is to befriend the beast’s nemesis. His nemesis reigns in the kingdoms of Veritas Prep, Princeton Review, Kaplan, and the lords of online test drills and tutors. These brave warriors who engaged in proper defense have been triumphantly declared as National Hispanic Scholars, or National Merit Scholars. Booyah stinkin beast.

Eradication – There is a growing trend of “test optional” college campuses. However, the beast has a long history and it’s hard to eradicate his powers. Until a true eradication has occurred, we must be diligent in waging a war against the beast.

In these final 90 days before the beast reappears at high schools and test centers across the nation, what will students be doing? Formidable warriors will spend their summer preparing for the beast by doing practice tests or enrolling in formal test prep programs. A less skilled group of warriors will take their chances – bypassing preparation programs or study time, hoping that if they repeat the exams multiple times, their scores will miraculously improve.

What can you do to help your student become fully prepared for the SAT or ACT exam? First, make sure s/he has taken the PSAT in the sophomore and junior years. If so, carefully review the results/scores to determine where to improve. Then, sit down and create a one-year strategy for the SAT exam. The strategy should include a methodical course of study, using an SAT study guide (which you can get at the library) and, ideally, enrollment in an SAT Preparation course. Ditto for the ACT. Either exam is fine (ACT or SAT), so get studying!

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