Beginning in September, T.C. Williams High School will increase efforts to prepare students for taking the SAT, a test widely used in college admissions to assess a student’s readiness for college and predict future academic success.
These efforts will enable teachers to better measure student academic growth, aid students planning for their future and expand academic options and opportunities available to students.
This fall, T.C. Williams will make it easy for students at all grade levels, not only upperclassmen, to become familiar with the SAT by hosting its first in-school, all-school SAT testing session. On Wednesday, October 19, all students at the King Street and Minnie Howard campuses will take the SAT or PSAT (pre-SAT) at no cost, removing the challenges of testing outside of school time and paying test fees.
Staff at T.C. Williams sees the change as hugely beneficial to students. The advanced preparation provides students with:
- In-school testing opportunities that reduce conflicts with family commitments, weekend work, transportation issues and stress related to unfamiliar testing locations
- Free access to Khan Academy practice sessions, which include personalized recommendations for practice, thousands of test questions, video lessons that explain problems step-by-step and full-length practice tests
- Free access to the Daily SAT Practice app
- The ability to use their PSAT/NMSQT test scores for dual enrollment placement
- Expanded scholarship opportunities for students who take the PSAT/NMSQT in grade 10
- Access to the National Scholarship Service, a free college advisory and referral service for 11th-grade African American students
- Free tests for all 12th-grade students from SAT School Day
- The ability to see if test scores indicate likely success in specific AP courses, using scores from the SAT and PSAT/NMSQT to provide predictions for 23 AP Exams
In addition, eligible low-income students who take the SAT receive four college application fee waivers, four additional score reports sent to the colleges of their choice at any time for free, and free access to the Question-and-Answer Service (QAS) or the Student Answer Service (SAS).