Sunday, November 25, 2012

Hunter practice test Essay

So cute! She choose to write about Kweller Prep!

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Hunter Exam Sample Essay (The Best Thing That Happened This Year)


    Throughout this year, many momentous events have transpired in my life. I joined the volleyball team, read many great books, and made some new friends. However, the most significant benchmark by far, was when I qualified for the Hunter Exam. Qualifying for the exam presented me with a chance that not many are given. It also led me to learn many new things in the course of my preparation for the exam. Having the ability to take the test has truly changed my life.


    Every year, only a select group of students are invited to take the Hunter High School Entrance Exam. The invitation itself carries an enormous amount of prestige, and validates all my hard work throughout my years of schooling. Furthermore, as Hunter High School is considered one of the best schools in the city, the very prospect of getting to learn alongside a myriad of bright and motivated students is exciting. I know that attending Hunter will open many doors for me, and this in turn encourages me to work even harder in my attempt to get in.


    To prepare for the exam, my parents enrolled me in a tutoring center called Kweller Prep. At Kweller Prep, I was able to acquire numerous new skills such as building my vocabulary, learning how to write essays properly and improving my competence in math. Even if I fail to get into Hunter, I know that the knowledge I gained at Kweller Prep has granted me with the tools needed to excel in a variety of other subject areas, as well as to succeed in whatever I put my mind to, and will stay with me through life.

     Being given the chance to take the Hunter High School Entrance Exam has truly been the best thing that has happened to me this year. It has given me a concrete means of taking pride in my achievements and provided me with the ability of learning many invaluable new things. Regardless of whether I get into Hunter, merely receiving the invitation to take the test has already changed my life for the better.

Is the PSAT a SCAM?


Is the PSAT a scam?

The PSAT claims that if you score in the 99th percentile, then you qualify for the National Merit scholarship. So that’s means, nationwide, your score must be in the top 1%, right? Wrong!

Well, I have two students who scored in the 98th percentile, but they didn’t win the national merit scholarship. Why not? Because STATE WIDE, they are not in the 99th percentile. Isn't this a NATIONAL merit scholarship?


 Interesting. So basically kids with lower scores in other states are qualified as national merit scholars. Perhaps it Should be called a STATE merit scholarship (scam). Now if you qualify for National Merit, the you can get a full scholarship to your college of choice. Perhaps kids from New York should register for the exam to take it in another state? So how can you cheat or beat the PSAT at their own game? How about sending your kid to a boarding school for a year to a state where the National merit score is lowest? How about living in New York and making your kid take the test in a school in New Jersey?

So if there is no asterisk  then that means that your child will qualify for National Merit. Interesting, so my students have asterisks, but they did not qualify.

When calling the National Merit PSAT , they respond that the child must be in the top percentile in the state.

Another question is, why does a student have to wait 11 months to learn if he is a national merit scholarship receipent?  You get your PSAT score in about 2 months after taking the exam. The school gets the score actually, and then the principal decides when the school will actually get the score.

It’s a joke. A big joke. The score report says that “you scored higher than 99% of juniors,” but that does not automatically mean that you are in the top 1% to qualify for national merit scholarship.

Let’s take a peek at the college board’s website about what winners in which state have the highest to lowest PSAT scores?

NYU stops National Merit scholarship. An article, released by NYU, titled.
“NYU Exiting National Merit Scholarship Citing Test Process”

The article states, “New York University pulled out of the National Merit scholarships, becoming at least the ninth school to stop funding one of the largest U.S. merit-based aid programs, because it doesn’t want to reward students based on a standardized test.


The National Merit Scholarship Corp. distributed more than $50 million to students in the 2009-2010 year based on the PSAT college entry practice exam. Most of the money comes from almost 200 colleges, including Northwestern University and University of Chicago, to fund awards of as much as $8,000 over four years. Companies such as Boeing Co. and Pfizer Inc. also sponsor the program, primarily to benefit their employees’ children”


Colleges contributed $23.6 million to the National Merit program in the 2009-2010 academic year and corporations and foundations gave more than $19 million. The remaining $7.7 million in scholarships were funded by National Merit from interest on its investments, which were valued at $146 million as of May 2010, according to the group’s annual report.
TO QUALIFY AS A NATIONSAL MERIT SCOLAR, you must take  the SAT, why? Because they are owned by the same company, the notorious college board.

About 3.5 million students, including as many as 1.6 million 11th-graders, took the PSAT last week, qualifying them for consideration in National Merit’s competition. The nonprofit company determines a score cutoff in each state to determine who advances as a semifinalist. Those that qualify must take the SAT exam, submit grades and write an essay to become one of about 15,000 finalists.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-03/nyu-exiting-national-merit-scholarship-citing-test-process.html


So who are the former national merit scholarship winners?

The College Board gains a marketing benefit from its association with National Merit when school districts or states consider using public funds to pay for the PSAT in 11th grade or ACT Inc.’s 10th-grade test known as PLAN, according to Bob Schaeffer, a spokesman for FairTest, a nonprofit group in Boston that works to end the misuses of standardized testing. Almost 1.3 million 10th-graders nationally took the PLAN test in the 2010-2011 academic year, according to the nonprofit ACT.

Still, not everyone who qualifies for a scholarship gets rewarded.

Greg Heon, 18, who graduated in June from Horace Mann, a private school in New York, scored high enough on the PSAT to become a semifinalist. Since he did well on the ACT, he hadn’t planned on taking the SAT, until he read it was required to become a finalist.


Thursday, November 15, 2012

Sample SAT ESSAY ANSWER test 2 college board blue book


Kweller Prep Tutoring

Do this and you will get a 15 not a 12!!!!!

Practice essay 2 model answer – College Board Blue Book

Knowledge as a Burden/Destructive Force

SAT SAMPLE ESSAY

For centuries, society has placed great value on the attainment of knowledge as a means of understanding the world. As a result, many have made it their life’s goal to attain as much information as possible, assuming that this will bring them status and admiration, and therefore, contentment. However, the pursuit of knowledge does not always coincide with the pursuit of happiness; a universal desire. In fact, the common saying, “Ignorance is bliss,” indicates that often times, it is those who the least that are happiest. This notion has been illustrated throughout centuries of great literature, becoming timeless in the process. “Oedipus Rex,” is a poignant example of just how lethal knowledge can be. When Oedipus learns of his fulfillment of a tragic prophecy, this knowledge drives him mad and ultimately ruins his life. A similar concept is introduced in Aldous Huxley’s masterpiece, “Brave New World,” which tells the story of a boy who grows up alienated from his community, dreaming of a better world into which he might fit in. However, when he visits and finds it utterly repellant, the knowledge that he doesn’t in fact, fit in anywhere, drives him to suicide.

                  Sophocles’ notorious play, “Oedipus Rex,” tells the story of a King, Oedipus, who comes to learn that the chaos prevalent throughout his kingdom is the result of a tragic prediction; one that prophesized that he would murder his father and sleep with is mother. Although at first, the prophecy seems absurd, he gradually comes to realize that it is true and has in fact, come to pass. The knowledge of this ruins his once contented existence, as he comes to the realization that the blood of his father is on his hands, that his dear wife, Jocasta, is in fact his mother, and that his children are the products of incest. Perhaps even worse is the awareness that the curse that the people of his beloved Thebes have been suffering from was in fact, his own doing. This knowledge tears his life and his family apart. Jocasta takes her own life and Oedipus gouges out his own eyes and is exiled from Thebes, leaving their two daughters on their own.

                  In “Brave New World,” Aldous Huxley fashions a utopian society within which everyone and everything has its place. Those who do not fit in are excluded, resulting in the formation of an alternate society on the Savage Reservation, one that is deemed backward and barbaric. The protagonist, John, however, is the product of both worlds, and because of this, doesn’t quite fit in to either. The child of a “civilized” mother who was stranded on the Reservation, John grows up alienated from his community as a result of his different upbringing. The only thing that keeps him going is the idea of another, distant world that his mother has instilled within him, a beautiful world into which me might fit in. However, when he gets the chance to visit this other, better world that he has always dreamed of, he finds himself more alienated than ever. The values and beliefs of this new world completely go against his own, and the knowledge that he has no place in either society takes away his will to live.

                  As has been demonstrated by scores of literary works, knowledge can often be more of a burden than a benefit. “Oedipus Rex,” and “Brave New World,” particularly, provide moving illustrations of this concept. Although these tales were written thousands of years apart, they nevertheless share the same central theme: that of the deadly nature of knowledge. Each of these protagonists shared a similar fate; the very fabric of their lives was torn apart and rendered unlivable, all because they simply couldn’t bear to live in ignorance. 

SAT ESSAY Sample Answer


Kweller Prep Tutoring

Do this and you will get a 15 not a 12!!!!!

Practice essay 2 model answer – College Board Blue Book

Knowledge as a Burden/Destructive Force

SAT SAMPLE ESSAY

For centuries, society has placed great value on the attainment of knowledge as a means of understanding the world. As a result, many have made it their life’s goal to attain as much information as possible, assuming that this will bring them status and admiration, and therefore, contentment. However, the pursuit of knowledge does not always coincide with the pursuit of happiness; a universal desire. In fact, the common saying, “Ignorance is bliss,” indicates that often times, it is those who the least that are happiest. This notion has been illustrated throughout centuries of great literature, becoming timeless in the process. “Oedipus Rex,” is a poignant example of just how lethal knowledge can be. When Oedipus learns of his fulfillment of a tragic prophecy, this knowledge drives him mad and ultimately ruins his life. A similar concept is introduced in Aldous Huxley’s masterpiece, “Brave New World,” which tells the story of a boy who grows up alienated from his community, dreaming of a better world into which he might fit in. However, when he visits and finds it utterly repellant, the knowledge that he doesn’t in fact, fit in anywhere, drives him to suicide.

                  Sophocles’ notorious play, “Oedipus Rex,” tells the story of a King, Oedipus, who comes to learn that the chaos prevalent throughout his kingdom is the result of a tragic prediction; one that prophesized that he would murder his father and sleep with is mother. Although at first, the prophecy seems absurd, he gradually comes to realize that it is true and has in fact, come to pass. The knowledge of this ruins his once contented existence, as he comes to the realization that the blood of his father is on his hands, that his dear wife, Jocasta, is in fact his mother, and that his children are the products of incest. Perhaps even worse is the awareness that the curse that the people of his beloved Thebes have been suffering from was in fact, his own doing. This knowledge tears his life and his family apart. Jocasta takes her own life and Oedipus gouges out his own eyes and is exiled from Thebes, leaving their two daughters on their own.

                  In “Brave New World,” Aldous Huxley fashions a utopian society within which everyone and everything has its place. Those who do not fit in are excluded, resulting in the formation of an alternate society on the Savage Reservation, one that is deemed backward and barbaric. The protagonist, John, however, is the product of both worlds, and because of this, doesn’t quite fit in to either. The child of a “civilized” mother who was stranded on the Reservation, John grows up alienated from his community as a result of his different upbringing. The only thing that keeps him going is the idea of another, distant world that his mother has instilled within him, a beautiful world into which me might fit in. However, when he gets the chance to visit this other, better world that he has always dreamed of, he finds himself more alienated than ever. The values and beliefs of this new world completely go against his own, and the knowledge that he has no place in either society takes away his will to live.

                  As has been demonstrated by scores of literary works, knowledge can often be more of a burden than a benefit. “Oedipus Rex,” and “Brave New World,” particularly, provide moving illustrations of this concept. Although these tales were written thousands of years apart, they nevertheless

share the same central theme: that of the deadly nature of knowledge. Each of these protagonists shared a similar fate; the very fabric of their lives was torn apart and rendered unlivable, all because they simply couldn’t bear to live in ignorance. 

Monday, November 12, 2012

Regents Exam Prep



Regents Exam Essay Sample Answer


Thematic Essay for Global Regents
JUNE 2011 SAMPLE ANSWER

Theme: Technology
Throughout history, societies have developed significant technological innovations. These technological innovations have had both positive and negative effects on society and humankind.

Task: Select two technological innovations and for each
-       Discuss why the technological innovation was important during a specific time period.
-       Discuss the positive and/or negative effects this technological innovation had on society or on humankind.

Throughout history, mankind has grown constantly, developing several beneficial technologies and advances in the process. The effects that these accomplishments have had on society, whether positive or negative, have nevertheless all succeeded in moving humanity forward: onto the next frontier of innovation. One of the most significant inventions was that of the printing press, whose introduction changed the fabric of society in ways yet unprecedented. Of similar consequence was the invention of the light bulb. Both advancements worked to light the way for a period of even greater human thought and achievement.  

The impact of the printing press on society was colossal, as it ushered in an era of mass communication, and beckoned the widespread circulation of ideas. Prior to its invention, society, for the most part, lived in a state of unawareness, devoid of the printed word and unfamiliar with concepts that they did not have an immediate concern for. Once it was introduced, however, the printing press became an invaluable means of spreading literature, cultivating thought, and even inspiring discontent and sparks of revolution in the hearts of many. Thanks to the printing press, society was, at long last, liberated from a long, dark period of ignorance and catapulted into a period of flourishing culture and thought; the Renaissance.

The invention of the light bulb too, served as an enormous historical milestone. Undoubtedly, its significance lies in that it greatly expanded the hours of one’s day. Having a means of artificial light, people were no longer forced to govern their lives by the hours during which the Sun shone, but were able to expand their day for as long as they wished. The increased productivity that light bulbs allowed helped spur further advancements, as well as provide time for leisure and for the exercise of the mind. Unmistakably, it had a very significant, very lasting change in the lives of many.

The introduction of the printing press and the light bulb into society was as revolutionary as any war. With the invention of the printing press, the Middle Ages were effectively over, as culture was able to blossom as a result of the dissemination of ideas through the written word. The period that ensued, the Renaissance, brought with it an era of significant human achievement. The light bulb, too, served to light the way for further societal advancement, as people were no longer bounded in the hours in which they worked by the confines of day and night. These inventions have clearly had a multitude of effects, drastically altering the course of mankind. For better or for worse, these human accomplishments have launched us into ages of even greater innovation and achievement.  


Free SHSAT questions


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