State-of-the-Art SAT
December 4, 2015
The new SAT will be distributed to high school juniors and seniors throughout the nation on March 4, 2016.
The essay is optional, and students now have 50 minutes to take it, where as they only had a mere 25 minutes for the previous test. The test is now being scored on a 400–1600 score scale. The test itself will take a total of three hours and 50 minutes with the essay or three hours without it.
The majority of juniors, such as Alicia Garcia and Mariah Guerrero, are planning to take the old SAT, as well as the new one.
“Yes, I am taking the old SAT,” Garcia stated, “because I feel that it will prepare me for the new one.”
One of Garcia’s peers is approaching the dilemma in a similar fashion.
“Yes, I am,” Guerrero said. “I feel the new SAT is a bit more challenging because of the critical thinking.”
On the other hand, a few juniors have decided not to take the modern SAT, and instead assiduously study for the previous version.
“My plan is to take the old SAT,” Bayardo said, “because there is plenty of study materials whereas I don’t know what to expect from the new one.”
Students will not be penalized for guessing, and there will be no meretricious vocabulary.
It is highly recommended that juniors take the old SAT, as well as the new one due to the fact that colleges have become accustomed to the old SAT, thus labeling and grouping the new college freshman will be complicated.
“One of our biggest goals in changing the SAT is to make sure it’s highly relevant to your future success. The new test will be more focused on the skills and knowledge at the heart of education” (CollegeBoard website).
While it is a welcome change by some students, others lack confidence in their ability to adapt to the new SAT; however, the distribution of pilot tests will benefit them, as well as support from teachers and parents who long for students to flourish during their endeavor for prosperity.
“Nobody in this school really knows each other,” Fregoso said. “I mean there are so many students now, so I believe it is possible to have them get to know one another by getting to read each others’ stories on Downey Legend.”
If she is able to promote newspaper to the students, then those students can read stories about others’ lives and view them differently.
“Many people, many stories,” Fregoso said, “and when students pass each other without knowing who they're walking by, mainly because of how they dress or how they talk, it's kind of sad, because one can't simply judge a book by its cover.”
She knows how it feels to walk past students and not know who they are. During her freshman year, Fregoso moved to Downey High from St. Emydius, a private middle school, that only had about 250 students.
“That school was so little,” Fregoso said, “almost everyone knew each other.”
During the middle of her sophomore year, former newspaper writer, Akhila Nalamilli, mentioned the Downey Legend newspaper with Fregoso.
“Angelica is a very nice girl,” Nalamilli said. “Her writing is amazingly done and a great use for newspaper.”
Fregoso's love for writing came to her when she was in first grade; as she started taking tests on The Magic Treehouse: Age of Dinosaurs, she loved the idea of being able to write her own stories and include her own characters and make her own world.
It is not really a goal to write those kinds of stories to this day, Fregoso pointed out. Joining newspaper was to become open-minded and to write actual stories of actual people rather than typing fiction.
“Although it seemed interesting to write what I want my characters to say and how I want my world to work out,” Fregoso said, “I think it's better to write what real characters say and how their worlds work.”
Knowing how she had a flowing passion to accomplish this goal, Norma Fregoso, mother of Angelica, agrees that she can do it.
“My daughter has always been a creative writer,” Mrs. Fregoso said. “Ever since she was a young child, she has expressed interest for writing stories.”
Fregoso's writing also inspired her friends to improve on various things like essays and CQTs.
“Angelica's very passionate and puts all her emotions into her work,” Carolina Marin, Fregoso's best friend said. “Not everyone has the ability to express themselves correctly, and I feel that she is capable of conveying her point thoroughly and emotionally without confusing or misleading the reader.”
With much more to experience, Fregoso patiently waits for what stories she will be writing about in newspaper, and to obtain knowledge about the lives of students, teachers, and the citizens of Downey.
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