• Contact
  • Mentorship
  • Media
  • Blog
  • Author/Speaker
  • Corporate Consulting
  • About
  • Home

PamelaDonnelly.com

ValleyPrep & Education Elevation

Call Now: (302) 884-6739

ValleyPrep & Education Elevation
You are here: Home / Site Updates / Why & How College Test Prep Must Change
post

Why & How College Test Prep Must Change

March 2, 2016 by Pamela Donnelly 2 Comments

Bresee - RaymondThe College Board has just announced that only college-bound students can take the new SAT on March 5. No longer can professional tutors come in, take the test, and apply what they see to their for-profit businesses. The fact that the students-only policy has sent dozens of high stakes test prep corporations into a tail spin amuses some people. For me, it’s just another sad reminder of how corruption and crisis dance on the razor’s edge of economic disparity in this country. Here’s why.

I’ll never forget that day. He had just told me about picking through garbage cans to feed his mother and himself. Trying to keep his grades up was hardest when he could only study until 6pm because their electricity was often turned off due to nonpayment of another bill.

I’d been volunteering at a youth center in a rundown part of Los Angeles, and these stories were all too common.

On this particular day, however, one thing truly struck me—that same young man of 17, Raul, reached into the tattered pocket of his second-hand jeans and pulled out a smart phone.

The ubiquitous nature of such devices, even among the neediest teens in our communities, makes this a thrilling time for those of us bringing educational technology solutions to the market. With every click, a teen is empowered to choose or reject options that are presented. Will they embrace this curriculum or that? One teacher or another? Suddenly instead of being relegated to digging for scraps, every beggar can potentially become a guest at the table of opportunity.

The 2015-2016 school year will go down in history as a perfect storm of transitions—a very exciting time in the world of college admissions. While most high school seniors impatiently await regular admissions and deferment correspondence (“not the dreaded wait list…nooo!”) college counselors are anxiously awaiting further developments in admissions upheavals like the new SAT, federal student aid application changes, and the newest squall in the applications world, the Coalition App for Access, Affordability and Success.

According to venture capital database CB Insights, more than $1.87 billion was invested in ed-tech technology in 2014. Naturally, the ed-tech arena has been a great, untapped frontier – averitable gold rush of Johnny-come-latelys to the education world, eager to pan for gold in “them thar hills”.

As CEO at GATE College System dot com, I know from the inside track that admissions counseling from a qualified, educator is the key to narrowing the playing field for an applicant with minimal access to personalized guidance at his or her secondary institution.

I am not entirely convinced that corporations, tech experts, and others who lack experience on the front lines of secondary education are qualified to  lower the bridge to access. Let’s hope that the right solutions from the right professionals with the right intentions make their ways onto smart phones for the sake of students like Raul whose lifeline to a better future can be, in these days of ed tech, as near as their own tattered pockets.

The mobile app we now offer on iOS and Android, Passport to the New SAT, is sold at the reasonable price of $24.99 to those who can afford it. It was created by a team of Ivy League-level professional educators with over 100 years of combined experience in classrooms and tutoring agencies from New York to our home offices in Los Angeles.

For students who need the support but struggle to help feed and shelter their families, we are presently accepting applications from appropriate 501(c)(3) organizations. We are committed to providing 100% free access for disadvantaged teens who could use the help.

Here’s why test prep and the road to college admissions must change: these are students, not customers. Lives are at stake. We in America can and must do better than becoming a corporatocracy where the sole access to success is a pay to play endeavor.

I don’t know about you, but I am grateful that educational technology allows the right information to reach the right students … in the palm of their hands … no matter where or how they live.

Filed Under: Site Updates Tagged With: ACT, ACT Prep, ACT test dates, Admissions help, Best Algebra Tutoring, Best AP Tutoring, Best Calculus Tutoring, Best Chemistry Tutoring, Best College Readiness Tutoring , Best English Tutoring, Best High School Tutoring, Best Physics Tutoring, Best Tutoring Bel Air, Best Tutoring Beverly Hills, Best Tutoring Calabasas, Best Tutoring Culver City, Best Tutoring Encino, Best Tutoring Los Angeles, Best Tutoring Malibu, Best Tutoring Pacific Palisades, Best Tutoring Santa Monica, Best Tutoring Westlake Village, Best Virtual Tutoring, Best Zoom Tutoring, Choosing the Right College, Coalition App, Coalition Application, College Acceptance, College Admission, College admissions, College Consultant, College Consulting, College Expert, College Fairs, College Specialist, Common App, Common Application, Financial aid , How Do I Get Into College, How Do I Improve GPA, How Do I Improve Grades, How to help teen get into college, How to Pay for College, Ivy League Tutoring, Merit aid, Pamela Donnelly, PSAT Prep, SAT, SAT Prep, SAT test dates, Scholarship help, Testing Anxiety, Tutoring, UCLA admissions help, USC admissions help, Valley Prep Tutoring

Comments

  1. Lucky says

    July 20, 2016 at 3:04 am

    certainly like your web-site, will surely come back again.

  2. tim williams says

    October 18, 2016 at 7:13 pm

    The fact that the students-only policy has sent dozens of high stakes test prep corporations into a tail spin amuses some people.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay Connected!

Pamela Donnelly on Facebook Pamela Donnelly on Twitter Pamela Donnelly on Twitter

Meet Pamela

As founder of three educational services companies, Pamela Donnelly is pleased to have built her professional reputation as a performance-focused executive. Her specialization in higher education for over twenty years has provided proven processes to help individuals and organizations successfully implement academic objectives. She optimizes transitioning teens and teams toward clearly defined goals leading to attainment of a fully articulated mission. Her leadership is data-driven, aligning people and resources to consistently deliver results that exceed expectations.

Follow Pamela

Pamela Donnelly on Facebook Pamela Donnelly on Twitter Pamela Donnelly on Twitter
Pamela Donnelly on YouTube
Legal   |   Terms of Use   |   Disclaimers   |   Disclosure   |   Privacy   |   DMCA   |   Contact

© Copyright 2022 Pamela M. Donnelly LLC · All Rights Reserved ·