Road to College Counseling Office
Spring Semester Parent Night
Jakkia Hollingsworth – Dean of College
Prep/Academic Counselor
Langston Ross – College Counselor
Sonya Barron – Alumni Counselor
Scott Ivy – Academic Counselor
Parent Night
North Hills Preparatory
January 2014
Evening Agenda
6:00 pm- 6: 30 pm- Presentation
6:30 pm- 6:45 pm- Road to College Parent
Information
6:45- 7:30 pm- IB parent night with AP/DP
Dean Heather Pereira
At 6:30- 9th grade parents are welcome to adjourn, unless they
wish to stay for the IB Program presentation.
Interpreting Your PSAT, EXPLORE, PLAN,
and ACT Scores
Parent Night
North Hills Preparatory
January 2014
4 Major Parts of Your PSAT/NMSQT Results
Your Scores
Your Skills
Your Answers
Next Steps
3 Test Sections
Critical Reading
Mathematics
Writing Skills
Your Scores
Score
You can see your projected SAT
score online in My College QuickStart
(www.collegeboard.org/quickstart).
Score Range
Percentile
If you are a junior, your scores are
compared to those of other juniors.
If you are a sophomore or younger
student, your scores are compared to
those of sophomores.
National Merit Scholarship
Corporation Information
The Selection Index is the sum of your critical reading,
mathematics and writing skills scores.
If it has an asterisk, you do not meet all of the eligibility
requirements for the competition. For example, the
National Merit Scholarship is only for 11th grade students.
The Percentile compares your performance to that of other
college-bound juniors.
The Entry Requirements section displays information you
provided on your answer sheet.
Your Skills
See how you did on each skill. The same skills are tested on the SAT.
You can try hundreds of practice questions, organized by skill, online
in My College QuickStart (www.collegeboard.org/quickstart).
Your Answers
You will get your test book back with
your PSAT/NMSQT results, so that
you can review the questions.
You can also review each test
question in My College QuickStart.
Your Answers:
Student-Produced
Responses
Some of the math problems required you
to grid in answers instead of selecting an
option. For these questions, you will see
the correct answer(s) written out.
Next Steps
What’s next?
Use the access code on your report to log in to My College
QuickStart, a personalized college and career planning kit. There you
can:
•Search for colleges
•Get a personalized SAT study plan
•Take a personality test to find majors and careers that fit you
www.collegeboard.org/quickstart
My College QuickStart
My College QuickStart
My Online Score Report
• Projected SAT®
score ranges
• State percentiles
• You can filter questions
• Questions and
answer explanations
My College QuickStart
My SAT Study Plan™
• Personalized skills
to improve
• SAT practice questions
• An official SAT practice test
My College QuickStart
Log in to your personalized account at
www.collegeboard.org/quickstart
College Admissions Practice Testing @ NHP
Grade Level
SAT
ACT
Freshman
PSAT
EXPLORE
Sophomore
PSAT
PLAN
PSAT/NMSQT
ACT
Junior
PLAN
o The PLAN Student Score Report contains a lot of information
about your skills, interests, plans, and goals.
o You can use this information to:
o make sure your remaining high school courses are the best ones
possible to prepare you for college
o help you consider your options for after high school
PLAN & EXPLORE: What Do My Scores Mean?
Your scores are between 1 and 25 on the EXPLORE (for 9th grade), 1
and 32 on the PLAN (for 10th grade), and 1 and 36 on the ACT (for
11th grade).
Just like grades, your scores tell you how well you did on each test.
Your Composite score is simply the average of your test scores in
English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science(rounded to a whole
number).
On the PLAN and EXPLORE the two scores directly under English and Math
only range from 1 to 16. They tell you how well you did in two specific
areas of each subject. These scores added together do NOT necessarily
equal your English or Math Test scores.
How Do My Scores Compare with Those of Other
Students Who Took PLAN?
Next to your scores, you'll find the percent of students scoring
at or below your score. This shows you how your scores
compare to those of students across the country who took
PLAN.
The example above shows 83% next to the student's English
score. This means she scored as high as or higher than 83%
of students in the comparison group who took PLAN.
The other percents show how you scored relative to other
students who took PLAN in your school, your school district,
and your state.
Am I on Track?
EXPLORE is designed for 9th graders, PLAN is designed for 10th graders
and the ACT is designed for 11th and 12th graders. Over time,
EXPLORE, PLAN and the ACT measure your college readiness skills
as you progress through high school.
Your scores can be used to predict how you are likely to do if you
take the ACT as an 11th or 12th grader and keep working hard.
The estimated ACT Composite score range is a prediction about how
you are likely to score on the ACT if you take the right courses and
work hard in those courses.
You can use these predicted or estimated scores to see if you are on
track to achieve the scores you want when you take the ACT later in
high school.
Keep in mind that these scores are only estimates, not guarantees.
Improving your study habits and taking more challenging courses are
likely to improve your ACT scores.
How Can I Improve?
The back of your Score Report describes the skills and knowledge you
already probably have.
You'll also see some ideas for improving even more in the different
subject areas. The suggestions are based on your scores and can
help you do better.
Credit Recovery
• For students who fail a ONE semester course (ex. Government,
Economics):
• Summer School occurs in June at NHP using the PLATO online
self-paced learning system.
• Cost TBD, but predicted to be $200 per semester, as in previous
years.
• For students who fail a semester of a TWO semester course
(aka year-long course) (ex. English, Math)
• If Semester 1 and Semester 2 average a 69 or lower, the lower of
the 2 semesters will be repeated at summer school at NHP.
• Maximum of 2 semesters of credit can be earned (1 morning class,
1 afternoon class)
Course Registration
• Counselors will register students for next years’ courses in
their English classes this spring.
• Course registration sheets with lists of course offerings will be
distributed in class and posted on NHP webpage.
• Incoming 10th graders will typically have 7.5 classes
• English, Chemistry, World History, Spanish or French, Math,
Technology Class, Fine Arts, 1 semester Study Hall, 1 semester PE
• Incoming 11th graders will typically have 7 or 8 classes
• English, Physics, US History, Spanish or French, Math, 1 semester
Government, 1 semester Theory of Knowledge, and 2 electives
• Electives are often used to continue in a Fine Art or take a 2nd
science or 2nd math.
Road To College Trip Information
At 6:45, all parents with students registered to attend a Road to
College trip will meet in their respective trip groups. At which
time, housekeeping information will be shared as well as
departure information. Please see below for the to find your trip
facilitator information.
Summer Enrichment Opportunities
• College preparation truly begins in the 9th grade. With major
emphasis at this time on academic progress, colleges also seek
students that doing something worthwhile with their summers.
• Examples:
• Volunteering
• Summer jobs
• Camps and Internships
• Summer enrichment classes
• Between 10th and 11th : Government at North Lake College
• See counselors for summer programs that suit your goals and
interests.
Other Summer Activities
• As your family travels, use this time to visit colleges. College
exposure is key to finding the right fit college for each scholar.
Though summer is a time where most students are not on
campus, students can determine a preference of size, location,
and offerings.
• Some scholars also use summer to participate in SAT/ACT test
prep. Typically students begin seriously taking the ACT/SAT
for college admission in the Spring semester of junior year.
• Be PRODUCTIVE!