In April of 2014, eight students involved with Hunter Programs, over the course of three days, were involved in a multiple college campus visit with College Admissions Expert, Rachel Winston. With our assistance, they were able to consider specific questions and criteria that are important in the selection process. Spending time touring each campus students were able to grasp an idea of where they could potentially spend at least the next four years of their lives.

Nicole Zhong: “Seeing the schools in person and going on the campus tours really helped me appreciate how competitive it is to get into a good university. It also helped me to see a variety of campuses and get a sense of where I wanted to live over the next four years, and which schools were the best fit.”

Rainie Cao: “For me, travelling to the different campuses made the college application experience seem much more real, and it got me excited about attending college next year. I came back from the trip more motivated to succeed and to get into my dream school.”

Mara Zhou: “The college campus tour was a great experience that opened my eyes to just how different each campus actually is. I ended up falling in love with a Liberal Arts college back East that I might not have applied to if I had not seen it in person. It was also really helpful to have an experienced college counselor on hand during the trip to guide us and to answer questions.”

At Hunter Programs, we want you to succeed, and at the same time we want you to be satisfied with your choices and career path. Together, with the assistance of numerous College Career Counselors, we have the opportunity to provide useful knowledge and information necessary to make educated decisions about your future.

The post International students go on college tour first appeared on Hunter Programs Education Services.

The post is reprinted with permission from the International Energy Alliance. The author of this post, Guo Cao, came to the U.S. through the International Study Abroad program offered through Hunter Programs Education Services. She has excelled in her studies over the past five years in the U.S. and has participated in numerous outside activities, including many through the International Energy Alliance where she has been a contributing member for several years. She is waiting to hear back from colleges to which she applied.

In Tesla Motors’ open letter released June 12, 2014, CEO Elon Musk announced that the company has removed the many patents owned by the company, releasing them “in the spirit of open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology”.  The purpose of this, according to Musk, is to allow other manufacturers to use Tesla’s expertise in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of the electric vehicle technology. “Technology leadership is not defined by patents, which history has repeatedly shown to be small protection indeed against a determined competitor,” Musk said, “but rather by the ability of a company to attract and motivate the world’s most talented engineers.”

Tesla previously sought to obtain patents for its technology in order to prevent other automobile companies – with massive manufacturing, sales and marketing power – from competing directly and potentially overwhelming Tesla Motors. However, Musk said that these fears proved to be unfounded, and “car manufacturers do not have the effort in the production of electric vehicles (zero emissions vehicle that contains all), and in fact, sold all over the world for a year vehicles, only less than 1% of the proportion of zero-emission vehicles.”

Whether Tesla Motor s simply wants to release the technology in good faith, or it is the desire of Tesla Motors to lead the electric vehicle market, after all of the patents disclosure, there will be an unprecedented rapid development of electric vehicles. If there is an explosive growth of production and capacity in the electric vehicle market, the price of electric cars will drop, making them more affordable to all.

Having more electric cars on the road in the place of gas-powered cars will really help the environment making the world a better place. It doesn’t matter what Tesla Motors’ intentions really were by releasing their electric car technology, open sourcing this technology will help the environment and hopefully make dramatic changes to the car industry in the coming years.

The post Tesla Motors Opens Patent Portfolio to Public first appeared on Hunter Programs Education Services.

It may seem obvious that college is expensive and thus you should physically visit colleges to see which ones you like best before deciding which one to attend. However, this statement is devoid of specific details regarding what might be important to consider when selecting a college. In addition, this statement misses the important fact that visiting a college can increase the likelihood of being accepted, a fact even more applicable to international Chinese students.

1. How will visiting college campuses help you to select colleges that are a good match for you?

Physically touring different campuses gives you an impression and feel for the atmosphere of each campus. Additionally, when touring it is useful to take a list of criteria that are important to you so you may also explore the campuses in a methodical way.

At Hunter Programs Education Services we like to separate college selection criteria into two groups; broad criteria and preferential criteria.

Broad criteria are equally important to all applicants and are typically examined in college ranking systems. These criteria include quality of instruction, academic reputation, and potential earnings upon graduation. See http://hunterprograms.com/college-rankings-to-help-you-find-the-right-college/ for clear information about how to look at colleges from this perspective.

Preferential criteria such as weather, locality, competitiveness, and friendliness can be held in varying levels of importance from one individual to another, but these criteria are not necessarily less important than broad criteria.

We have established a comprehensive list of preferential criteria and divided these criteria into two categories; more and less tangible. This listing can be found at the bottom of this article. Although we refer to these criteria as “preferential” they can strongly affect student performance, success, and happiness.

2. How will visiting college campuses help you get into the colleges you like?

You don’t think visiting colleges is important? Think again! Here is a true story:

My son was waitlisted at a college that is just an hour drive from where we live. So we thought we should drive there to see if it would be a school he would actually like to attend. Glad we did. Even though my son and I are both technical nerds, from the moment we stepped onto the campus we noticed that the degree of nerdiness at this college was at the top of the nerdiness scale. It wasn’t until the student tour guide compared a metal sculpture in an open area to the Antlion in Half-Life that we decided this college was probably not the best match. We visited admissions and curiously inquired about why my son was waitlisted instead of accepted. They said that it was most likely because he never visited the campus. They went on to explain that because we live a short distance from this college, and my son’s qualifications were so high, they figured he would be accepted into many colleges. Their college is small and so they didn’t feel they could risk him saying, “no” to them if they accepted him.

Colleges keep a record of students that have officially visited the campus. Additionally, visiting colleges certainly gives students a strong personal voice when writing college entrance essays regarding what they are looking for in a college and why they have chosen to apply to those particular schools. Remember, you are trying to convince colleges through your experiences, and not just your words, that their college is a great match for you.

3. Why is visiting college campuses even more important for the Chinese applicant?

Consider that over one million foreign students attend college in the United States, one fourth of which are from China. It is safe to presume that the number of applications colleges receive directly from China is in the millions.

Also consider that each year many new American college students decide they are not happy at their chosen schools. The Chinese culture and the schools in China are so very different from the United States. Therefore it is easy to understand why there are far more new Chinese college students who decide that they are not happy at their chosen schools.

We can then conclude that because college rankings are determined in part by student retention rates, college admissions officers are extremely concerned with admitting students who then wish to transfer to another college. In turn, visiting college campuses provides and even stronger voice for Chinese applicants in order to convince admissions, through actions and experiences, that they will be happy attending their chosen colleges.

If you were buying a car, you would at least kick the tires and take it out for a test drive, right? College costs a great deal more than a car. It makes sense that you would want to invest the time necessary to visit colleges and ensure you end up at the right school. Choosing the college that is best for you can lead to a lifetime of happiness and success.

4. What a student should look for in a college.

Let us know if you have any important college selection criteria we should add to our list.

The post Why is visiting college campuses important to applicants? first appeared on Hunter Programs Education Services.

As a student interested in hospitality and hotel management, and as a longtime member of the IEA, it seemed to me that Marriott recognizes that one of the most pressing concerns around the world today is energy conservation. Evidence of this can be found in the great effort Marriott has gone through in order to LEED certify many of its hotels. So, when an opportunity arose for me to learn more by interviewing a high ranking Marriott official in Texas, I decided a trip to Texas to learn more about the Marriott’s serious dedication to solving energy issues in its hotels would be very exciting.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with LEED certification, “LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a green building certification program that recognizes best-in-class building strategies and practices. To receive LEED certification, building projects satisfy prerequisites and earn points to achieve different levels of certification. Prerequisites and credits differ for each rating system, and teams choose the best fit for their project.”

Energy conservation is possible at the consumer level, by enacting measures such as turning off the lights when you exit a room, or unplugging electrical sources that are not currently in use; however, when this is expanded to include commercial businesses (such as hotels), the gains are even greater.  Energy efficiency can bring increased financial capital, improve environmental quality, and reduce energy costs. Industrial and commercial users can increase energy efficiency to maximize their profit. For more fantastic information on how it now makes sense from a financial standpoint for companies to change their energy use, please read The Quest and One Bold Vision.

In Texas, I met with Al Beams, the Director of Engineering of the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center owned by Marriott, who was happy to provide examples of how the hotel is already making this a top priority. Gaylord Texan Resort is working to achieve LEED certification in this year (2014) by running a massive recycling program that reuses everything from pallets, light bulbs, and batteries, to paper, metal, and glass. Marriott was the first major hotel company in the U.S. to design and construct a LEED-certified hotel in 2005. The company is devoted to protecting the environment and reducing energy consumption reducing and diverting waste by implementing low-energy light bulbs, using showerheads that use less water, and biodegradable laundry bags. For reducing electric energy use, the hotel will shut down the air conditioner in the lobby at midnight each night, when the heat is least likely to bother its guests. Marriott also encourages sustainability in their kitchens through actions such as purchasing organic and responsibly sourced food. If other businesses adopted the same model as the Marriott standard, the world would see a significant reduction in its energy consumption.

As there are a finite number of resources available to support the ever-increasing global population, the importance of energy conservation cannot be exaggerated; energy conservation refers to ways that reduce energy consumption, conserve resources, and reduce pollution to the environment. This is possible through improving energy efficiency, reducing energy consumption, or reducing the consumption of traditional energy sources. This is a goal of the International Energy Alliance that we hope to spread through increased awareness.

The post Marriott is Serious about Preserving Resources first appeared on Hunter Programs Education Services.

We created this guarantee because of changing times. Years ago we would get most of our clients through referrals from other clients. But there has been a shift in recent years and we now receive a substantial number of our new clients from online sources. We put ourselves in the shoes of potential new clients and asked ourselves what they might be thinking when deciding whether or not to try our services. We then hit on the idea of enabling potential new clients to try us while taking their financial risk out of it, and so we crafted our simple guarantee. At the same time, many of our students still come as referrals, and so we realized that this new guarantee also enables friends and contacts of ours to confidently refer us to others without passing along any risk. For ongoing clients, it lets them know that we expect to earn their satisfaction at each and every session.

Internally, Hunter Programs Education Services has cultivated a very supportive family-like work climate for our administrative staff and tutors. There is also team spirit in the way that we all help each other. Everyone is here for the right reason, and that is helping people. So, it came as no surprise that our staff immediately embraced this new guarantee.

All of us at Hunter Programs Education Services believe in the quality of our services and look forward to standing behind this new guarantee.

The post Announcing our new full money back guarantee first appeared on Hunter Programs Education Services.

Not just any kind of chocolate, but dark chocolate that is at least 70% in cocoa content, is minimally processed, and produced without the use of alkalization.

Since dark chocolate improves memory, curbs anxiety, and increases focus, how could it not help you to raise your SAT score? It can be eaten very quickly before an exam and during breaks. Plus, since it’s high in fiber, it can help curb hunger during your exam.

Here are the beneficial elements in chocolate and how each one works to help you test better, not just on the SAT but on any exam.

Tryptophan

This amino acid helps to curb anxiety. Low amounts of the neurotransmitter serotonin cause anxiety. Tryptophan is an amino acid that is converted by your body’s chemistry into serotonin.

Theobromine

Studies show that theobromine elevates mood. As an added bonus, if you have a cough going into your exam, theobromine has been shown to quiet coughs almost as well as codeine.

Phenylethylamine

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, the same chemical your brain creates when you feel like you are falling in love. It does so by encouraging your brain to release endorphins, so it makes you feel happier during testing.

Magnesium

Magnesium is one of the few nutrients that produces a noticeable lowering of anxiety. Eat dark chocolate covered almonds and get a double dose of magnesium, since almonds are also high in magnesium.

Flavanol

Dark chocolate that is minimally processed is high in the antioxidant flavanol. Alkalization destroys all benefits of flavanol. This antioxidant has been shown to improve memory skills in addition to circulation and heart health.

Caffeine

Surprise! The caffeine content of 1.5 ounces of chocolate that has a high concentration of cocoa can be about the same as in a 6 ounce cup of coffee. Above all other benefits, caffeine is a mild stimulant that boosts blood flow to the brain, improving performance and focus. Caffeine in small amounts also reduces anxiety. Remember, it takes twenty minutes for caffeine to start taking effect and it has a four hour half-life.

Caution

There are definitely negative sides to eating chocolate all the time. Chocolate is a desert and is high in calories, high in fat, and high in sugar – all of which can cause you to put on unhealthy weight. Individuals can react differently to eating chocolate for testing purposes, so try using different amounts of dark chocolate before the day of the big test to see how you react to it.

The post Instantly raise your SAT test score! first appeared on Hunter Programs Education Services.

Here are two ways to get the colleges themselves to give you a return on all the money you paid just to get into college.

With many students applying to twenty or more colleges these days, the costs can run into thousands of dollars just to pay for required standardized tests, transcript forwarding, and applications. On top of this, many parents also pay for tutoring, test prep, sports, outside activities, private college guidance counselors, and travel to visit colleges. So what can you expect for your return on the money you spend just to get into college?

I am not talking about your return on investment with respect to intangibles such as elevated reasoning skills, increased breadth, an expanded core of knowledge, and a heightened understanding the world around us. What I am talking about is your monetary return on investment from the colleges themselves.

Plan A: Get money directly from colleges that are recruiting more economically diverse student bodies

Many top colleges are now using their endowments to recruit more economically diverse student bodies. Furthermore, there is a strong correlation between the quality of colleges and the size of their endowments. These endowments are monies or assets donated to colleges, and over a long period of time they can accumulate to sizable amounts. The colleges invest the base amount of their endowments and then use the earnings to pay for things they need. Many colleges are now making larger portions of their endowment earnings available to help students pay for college.

This sounds very noble and charitable, but we all know that you cannot get something for nothing. We also know that things sounding too good to be true simply are not true, right? Well, these adages are only applicable to a degree for cases in which colleges are “need blind.” Need blind means that admissions examine all students for acceptance in the same way without regards to whether or not the students have enough money to pay for college.

Here is where the adages do apply: Just needing financial assistance in the form of financial aid or academic scholarship is not enough to get help. You must also be a top student with a great GPA, high test scores, and interesting outside activities. Non-need blind colleges that are highly competitive strongly consider whether or not you will need their assistance to pay for college. You have to let these colleges know during the application process that you will need assistance paying for college. For non-need blind colleges ranked in the top ten, if admissions knows you will need help paying for college, the probability of being accepted changes from virtually impossible to just plain impossible since applicants needing financial help must be stronger than those paying full price.

Where the adages do not apply is at need blind schools where applicants only need to be as good as the students paying full price, not better. When I visited Vanderbilt last year I was given the inside scoop on Vanderbilt’s admission trends before and after it changed into a need blind school. Top students applying to Vanderbilt have the same amazing backgrounds as they did before the college adopted its need blind admissions policy. However, the bottom accepted students are increasingly stronger. Turns out that the average ACT score of accepted students increased from 32 to 33 that same year Vanderbilt turned need blind.

For need blind colleges, this policy enables them to recruit economically diverse students while at the same time increasing their rankings since rankings are in part determined by the competitive level of admissions.

Plan B: Pay for college with extremely gracious offers from slightly lower ranked colleges

Moving ahead with plan A does sound somewhat risky. What if you spend a lot of money trying to get your high performing child into a top college, but then she doesn’t get accepted? The fact is that there are far too many brilliant and talented students applying for the few available undergraduate openings in top colleges. These top colleges simply do not have room for all the qualified applicants.

There is good news for these students. Slightly lower ranked colleges are eager to accept these talented students. These colleges recognize the many benefits of having these students at their colleges, and they routinely offer bright students special honors programs, opportunities to work directly with professors, and especially offers of greatly discounted tuition.

At Hunter Programs Education Services, over the years we have even seen extremely bright and talented students accept generous offers from lower ranked colleges where they can be superstars even though they were accepted by much higher ranked colleges where they would only be one of the many there. You can learn more about, “is it better to be a small fish in a big pond, or a big fish in a small pond” by reading Malcom Gladwell’s latest book, David and Goliath.

Need help figuring out if you really want to attend a top university or if instead you should grab a generous offer from a lower ranked university? There are many college ranking systems out there that can be used to help you make a decision. To learn more about how use college rankings, take a look at this article. Although we don’t advocate relying heavily on those rankings, learning to understand the criteria used in the rankings can go a long ways in helping you decide what is important to you when selecting a college. In another post, we have explained four different rankings, their criteria and weighting of those criteria, and why we like these four rankings (put link here to rankings post once the post is written).

Summary and Conclusion

At the beginning of this article, I did say to remove the intangible benefits of your college education in determining your return on investment. However if you get financial assistance from a highly ranked need blind college that is moving towards recruiting a more economically diversified student body, you get both, the intangibles and an extremely low cost education. On the other hand, if you opt for a lower ranked college that offers huge amount of money, you get the intangibles and an extremely low cost education. Either way, if you are spending money on your talented child’s K-12 education with your eye on getting into a highly competitive college is seems likely you will come out ahead.

The post Get money for college from the colleges themselves. first appeared on Hunter Programs Education Services.

In the twenty-five years Hunter Programs Education Services has been helping students, we have often found ourselves to be surprised by just how little time many students and parents actually put into researching colleges during the selection process. Yet, colleges are so different from one another that this research is immensely important; especially when one considers that college is without a doubt one of the greatest investments that students make during their lifetimes in terms of both money and time.

College rankings can be a good place to start with your research, and can be used to help you investigate schools you have heard about through other sources. However, in order to benefit fully from the ranking system, you must understand the criteria used and how it is weighted, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the specific ranking system. In addition, it is important to understand the differences between ranking systems, and the effect that changes in ranking methodologies have on the rank of a specific college. This may sound like an overwhelming amount of information, and in truth, it can be. Therefore, in order to simplify things, we at Hunter Programs studied four established and trusted ranking systems and extracted the essence of each along with its strengths and weaknesses. Then we compared them side-by-side.

College Ranking System 1:  Forbes List of America’s Top Colleges

Strengths: focuses on quality of education and cost of education

Weaknesses: academic reputation not considered, student input may detract from ranking system goal

The college ranking system from Forbes is designed and implemented by a nonprofit organization, the Center for College Affordability & Productivity. A nonprofit is not likely to have self or outside interests influencing its ranking system design, and consequently its ranking outcome. Also, the focus of this ranking system is on what students get out of their education rather than what it takes to get into college.

The ranking criteria used in this system are student satisfaction (25%), post-graduate success (32.5%), graduation rates (7.5%), student debt (25%), and academic success (10%). Although potential career earnings and college cost considerations are not specific categories, they are embedded within this ranking system in the form of Payscale’s salary rankings and college four-year graduation rate.

Academic reputation is not considered in these rankings, and yet academic reputation can open doors to grad schools and employment opportunities.  We are not suggesting Forbes should start including academic reputation in its rankings since we believe there is great value in a ranking system that focuses on what students get out of college. However, we are suggesting that you also consider other ranking systems such as the one from U.S. News and THE World University Rankings so that you can view colleges from an academic reputation standpoint.

Analysis results can only be as good as the ranking design and the data itself. Although professor ratings from Rate My Professor can be useful in theory, unfortunately these professor ratings can be considerably higher for teachers who are considered easier, as opposed to more challenging or more effective.

Forbes Ranking Methodology

College Ranking System 2:  Payscale College Salary Report

Strengths: statistical analysis of large salary databases, no lurking influence from other dependent criteria

Weaknesses: skewed rankings with STEM schools earning higher rankings, small schools not included

Payscale creates its rankings strictly from college graduate salaries. Over the past ten years, we at Hunter Programs Education Services have noticed that the financial considerations of a college education have risen to the top of all college selection concerns. Adding to this is the ongoing popularity of discussions and debates about whether or not college makes financial sense for everyone anymore. In regards to these concerns, the Payscale rankings can be quite helpful.

There are two college ranking lists produced by Payscale. One ranking for those who only earn bachelor’s degrees, and a second ranking for those who go on to earn graduate degrees. Although Payscale rankings list early career salary, mid-career salary, percent STEM degrees, and the percentage of “yes” responses to the question, “Does your job make the world a better place,” Payscale determines college rankings based solely upon mid-career median salary.

The 2014-2015 rankings include a new column that specifies percentage of graduates who are STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). This greatly improves the usefulness of these rankings since STEM graduates tend to earn considerably more than liberal arts grads. Therefore colleges with large populations of STEM graduates tend to rank higher in the Payscale rankings.

Of course it is not practical or even possible for Payscale to obtain salary information for every graduate from each college, but salary data from an included college is statistically significant since the sample sizes range from one hundred to several thousand. Very small schools are excluded because of the small sample sizes for salaries. Payscale provides all the pertinent statistical analysis and confidence level information in its methodology section. It is also important to note that the rankings leave out all self-employed, project-based, and contract employees.

Payscale Ranking Methodology

College Ranking System 3:  THE World University Rankings

Strengths: thorough academic review, includes international outlook

Weaknesses: no graduate job outlook, no graduate income projections

As the name of THE (Times Higher Education) World University Rankings implies, this system ranks colleges from all around the world, and it is the only major ranking system that does so. THE World University Rankings evaluates colleges by examining five areas: teaching (30%), research (30%), citations (30%), industry income (2.5%), and international outlook (7.5%).

Five years ago the creators of THE World University Ranking acknowledged it was inherently difficult to find meaningful ways to compare universities from country to country. Although THE World University Ranking system currently lists five areas it examines, four of these areas are considered to be a single area labeled “academics” within other ranking systems. From this perspective THE World University Rankings really has not advanced in its quest for different ways to compare universities in different countries other than by two major areas, academics and international outlook.

But if you value academics above all else and you feel the other ranking systems are missing the value of international outlook, then this is the right ranking system for you. The international outlook is unique to THE World University Rankings and is great for those who really are looking for international outlook in both education and career. It is only weighted 7.5% in calculating overall ranking scores, but this is significantly more than 0.0% that other rankings devote to this area.

Noticeably absent from this ranking system are direct measures of job outlook and income. As was mentioned in the above review of the ranking system by Payscale, income and job outlook are paramount when it comes to what students and parents in the United States are looking for in a college.

Finally, THE World University Rankings address two extremely important issues with this kind of data. First, they provide tabs at the top of their most recent rankings to give convenient access to rankings from the last five years. This allows the user to easily see if there have been major changes in the rankings from year to year as ranking criteria and weighting of those criteria have changed. Second, the designers of THE World University Rankings recognize that the raw score distribution is skewed at the high end of the scores, and they remedy this by normalizing the data. Without normalizing the raw scores, the scores of lower ranked colleges are almost identical. By normalizing the data, those differences are more meaningful. The creators of the U.S. News rankings could learn from these two ideas.

Times Higher Education Ranking Methodology

College Ranking System 4:  U.S. News Best College Rankings

Strengths: the categories considered in these rankings seem to be important to most people

Weaknesses: this ranking system may actually influence the rankings, ranking scores are skewed

The U.S. News ranking system has been around for many years, and it is popular both inside and outside the United States. They produce two main ranking lists, one of national universities and another of liberal arts colleges. This ranking system examines seven areas: undergraduate academic reputation (22.5%), graduation and retention rates (22.5%), faculty resources (20%), student retention (12.5%), financial resources (10%), alumni giving (5%), and graduation rate performance (7.5%).

This ranking system is by far the most revered and popular of all the ranking systems, and consequently it is the most influential. Through no fault of the ranking system itself, the incredible popularity of this ranking system enables this system to exert great influence on what colleges strive to offer, and therein lies the problem with this ranking system. Within a vacuum, this ranking system is just as valid as any of the other ranking systems. The U.S. News ranking categories are selected just as purposefully as categories selected by other ranking systems. The weight given to a category within the U.S. News ranking system has the same level of subjectivity as the weight given to a category in any other ranking system.

Evidence of the influence exerted by U.S. News on college offerings can be found by examining changes in ranking categories and weights of those categories over the years, and then observing the corresponding trends in shifting ranking positions which follow. Every few years, U.S. News will remove a category, add a category, or change the weighting of a category. This causes an instant shifting in ranking positions. Over the course of the next several years following the methodology changes, college ranking positions steadily creep towards same spots they held before the system change put into place by U.S. News. This would seem to suggest that instead of passively ranking colleges, it is possible that U.S. News inadvertently influences the rankings.

Aside from the above mentioned popularity problem, there are two other problems within the U.S. News rankings. First, in regards to the category labeled undergraduate academic reputation, which is weighted at a whopping 22.5%, it would be incredibly naive to believe that the research done by graduate students has no consequential influence on undergraduate reputation. The second problem is that the difference between consecutive scores decreases to rather insignificant levels as you get further down the ranking list. To fix this problem, U.S. News could normalize their raw ranking scores in the same way THE World University Rankings does.

U.S. News Ranking Methodology

Summary and Side-by-Side Comparison

We suggest that for most people, the greatest benefit comes from using all four of these ranking systems. Consult the table below for a summary and side-by-side comparisons of these ranking systems.

The post College ranking systems can help you select the right college first appeared on Hunter Programs Education Services.

Though many students assume that the ACT and the SAT are more or less the same, in reality there are major differences between the tests, and how you score on each type of test could vary significantly. Though it is impossible to say definitively which exam is “better” than the other (it varies on an individual student basis), it is our experience at Hunter Programs that international students, and especially Chinese students, typically fare better on the ACT, which measures learning achievement as opposed to academic aptitude.

The ACT is an achievement test, measuring what a student has learned in school up to that point in their education. The exam includes up to 5 sections: English, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and an optional Writing test (although many colleges require students to complete this). Instead of emphasizing vocabulary, the ACT concentrates on grammar, punctuation and syntax. It tests more advanced Mathematics concepts than the SAT, focusing on the proper application of rules and formulas, as opposed to critical reasoning. In addition, the ACT demands some knowledge of an Earth Science or a Physical Science, as well as Biology. Though the ACT covers more subjects than the SAT, the exam is generally considered to be more explicit and coherent, and is preferred by many international students.

In contrast to the ACT, the SAT tests a student’s academic aptitude by measuring their reasoning and problem solving ability. It is comprised of 3 sections, including Critical Reading, Mathematics and a required Writing test; two-thirds of the composite score are based on a student’s ability to read, write and analyze in English. The SAT places a strong emphasis on vocabulary, and includes reading comprehension questions for which there can be several correct answers. A student’s task is to select the “best” correct answer. If they choose incorrectly, the points are deducted from their overall score. These “trick” questions are challenging for native English speaking students, but they are especially difficult for international students since these answer choices require knowledge of very slight differences in meaning for vocabulary words. As such, many students are turning to the ACT, because they feel the test is more straightforward in nature.

According to ACT Education Director Jon Erickson in a recent US News article, “The structure of the ACT is conducive to international education. It’s tied very much to subject level [and] I think the science part is also attractive to international students. A lot of international students who are looking to U.S. colleges tend to be in STEM fields, so I think that’s attractive.”

The SAT has historically been considered the more “common” exam, but a recent report reveals that, as of 2012, the numbers of domestic students taking the ACT actually surpassed those taking the SAT. International students still represent a much smaller portion of testers than their domestic peers, but according to Sam Hwang, founder and CEO of New Pathway Education and Technology Group, a company based in Beijing that offers SAT and ACT tutoring, “”No one’s really taking it, but only because they don’t know what it is”. Though the ACT is by no means “easier” than the SAT, it is our feeling at Hunter Programs that the ACT test content and format is more comprehensible to international students, and should therefore be given equal consideration.

For more information on the SAT, the ACT or general standardized testing and college application questions, please visit www.hunterprograms.com, or call us at +1.949.831.8565.

If you have an opinion, or are a Chinese student who has experienced these tests, please share your thoughts.

The post For the Chinese student, is the ACT test a better alternative to the SAT? first appeared on Hunter Programs Education Services.

Many people, teachers included, believe the exclusive purpose of tutoring is to help struggling students to get through their homework and perhaps to study for tests. It is true that, in most cases, this is about all the hired tutor is capable of doing. But tutoring didn’t start off as a tool solely for remediating struggling students, and certainly a talented tutor can provide benefit to even the most advanced student.

In ancient Greece, the wealthy hired tutors to privately educate their children. In fact, Aristotle was hired for this purpose to tutor Alexander the Great. In the early days of the United States, very few children went to school, and instead were educated by master tutors. Today, although exceptionally talented “super tutors” are not as readily available as remediation tutors, it is still possible to hire an amazing tutor who can help an exceptionally talented student to really soar.

Whether are you looking for a remediation tutor or a super tutor, here are some ideas and questions you can use to help you to find a tutor who is the right match.

12 questions to ask in order in order to find the right tutor

1. What is your tutor’s educational background?

It is not always necessary for a tutor to have a PhD in mathematics in order to help a student though Pre-Algebra. In fact, a tutor with a PhD in mathematics can actually intimidate a struggling “average” student. However, a tutor with a more specialized and advanced background can often make a much bigger impression on a brighter student wishing to gain more insight. It really comes down to the needs and the expectations of the student. Learning about the academic backgrounds of various tutors can be helpful in choosing the right tutor, but it is only one of the questions you should be asking.

2. What subjects does your tutor handle and at what level?

The truth of the matter is that many tutors who specialize in working with elementary school students cannot handle even Algebra 1 or Physics. These tutors work well within a particular age group, but would be less effective for older students or more challenging concepts. In addition, some tutors can handle remedial and non-honors levels of certain classes, but not honors or AP levels. Learning what subjects a tutor handles, as well as their area of expertise, is essential in choosing the right tutor for you.

3. Does your tutor have experience as an actual teacher?

Teachers tend to educate students in the same way they teach in the classroom. Tutors tend to worry more about results, sometimes doing too much for the student. A good compromise is a tutor who focusses on results initially, but develops a relationship with the student that evolves to include teaching, guiding and mentoring.

4. How long has your tutor been tutoring?

New tutors can make a lot of mistakes at the expense of the student. Often they are not familiar with teacher expectations, and how to explain in a way that corresponds to what your teacher expects. It’s through experience that tutors learn how to help you anticipate and avoid mistakes before they happen. Tutoring has changed over the years and many new tutors want good pay but are not willing to prepare before seeing students if it is necessary. Chances are, the longer a tutor has been working as an educator, the more effective he or she will be.

5. Does your tutor get results?

Tutors can command much higher hourly pay rates if they get results. Results can come in all different forms, from enabling higher grades to producing more motivated students. Tutoring rates are usually decided by amount of experience, level of education, likeability, influence, and ultimately the kind of results the tutor gets.

6. Does your tutor have references, and better yet were they referred by a reliable source?

Although you can research tutors from lists, hands down, the absolute best way to find a good tutor is through a reliable recommendation. If you cannot find a good referral, then be prepared to try several different tutors before deciding which one is the best for your situation.

7. Is your tutor a professional or is tutoring a sideline?

There are instances in which you may want the tutor to stick around for a while. A sideline tutor might have to stop helping you half way through a course when his circumstances change. They may also be unable to meet when you really need them, because of their other jobs. If you want consistent support through the academic year, this is probably not the optimal solution for you.

8. Has your tutor graduated college, or still in college and if so at what level?

College students can make great tutors. They can be very knowledgeable and very professional, and especially more enthusiastic. They also tend to be younger and therefore perhaps easier for young students to relate to.

9. Do you need a high paid professional tutor or can you settle for a high school student tutor?

High school peer tutors can be very effective if a struggling student needs to meet for two or three hours per day, and doesn’t have a lot of money. Student tutors can charge anywhere from $0 to $25 per hour.

10. Is your tutor careful not to create a tutoring dependency?

Classroom teachers regularly complain that students who are receiving tutoring often do not pay attention. In many cases students actually tell their teachers that they don’t have to pay attention in class because their tutors will help them later. Sometimes tutors do too much of the work for the student as well.

11. If you have learning disabilities, is your tutor knowledgeable on those disabilities?

This doesn’t mean that your tutor needs to be a special education teacher, and in fact most special education teachers don’t have a solid enough background in core subjects to be able to tutor more advanced students. However, it is helpful if your tutor understands the difficulties associated with your learning disability and any accommodations you are entitled to. Your tutor should also be able to make suggestions of methods and compensation techniques that could help the learning disabled student.

12. Is your tutor familiar with your textbooks, your school, and your teachers?

It is best if you have a tutor who knows what you are being taught as well as what you are not being taught (but should be). Tutors with a lot of experience with students from many different schools can have a pretty good handle on not only what it will take to do well in your present class, but also on upcoming standardized exams and later classes. These tutors can specifically point out things you are learning in the classroom and that will also be on upcoming standardized exams such as the SAT and SAT subject tests.

If you have any questions or your own guidelines for finding the right tutor, please submit in the comment section.

The post How can I find a tutor who is the right match for my classwork? first appeared on Hunter Programs Education Services.