How Joe earned $166 an hour on his S.A.T.

Our son Joe graduated high school in 2010. For the most part, he was home schooled, but took some dual-enrollment AP classes at our local community college. 

We'd been researching four-year colleges and universities and found one that looked really promising. They were starting a baseball program (Joe’s sport) this year and would be awarding athletic scholarships too. Joe applied to the school and found that he could get most of the tuition and fees covered through various scholarships—he has a really good GPA. Then the financial aid person we were talking with said that if Joe could raise his SAT scores just 50 points he would qualify for another $3000 scholarship which would really make the school affordable. That was a real motivation for Joe.

So we signed Joe up to take the SAT test on June 5. Unfortunately we had to pay a late fee, but we compared the potential reward to the cost and thought it was worth it. Joe studied and practiced for 18 hours in the two weeks before the test.

He used two free online sources:

www.Number2.com 

www.LearningExpressLibrary.com 

We found Number2.com through a Consumer Reports article years ago. It’s a good site, but a little limited in the scope of the questions they have you answer.

We found LearningExpressLibrary through our public library’s website. Joe told us that the LearningExpress website was tougher and much more comprehensive. Their website is available for no charge through most libraries or colleges. We were able to access it from home using our Phoenix Public Library card.

Not only does LearningExpressLibrary provide SAT and ACT testing, but they also have guides and tests for Real Estate, Plumbers, US Citizenship, GED preparation and a whole host of others.

How did Joe do on his SAT?   On June 24, Joe woke up early to log into the CollegeBoard.com website to check his SAT scores. He was so nervous that he typed in his password incorrectly three times (wouldn’t you be nervous if you were wondering if you had just earned $3000?).

He finally logged in and a smile quickly spread across his face.

He not only increased his score the necessary 50 points, but exceeded it. By spending 18 hours studying he increased his overall score 160 points! Yep, we’re proud of him!

After we finished cheering, Steve pulled out a calculator and divided $3000 by 18 hours of studying and discovered that Joe earned $166.66 per hour for his efforts.

Now that’s really smart money!

If you have a child who is preparing to go to college, help them be prepared for the SAT by using the websites we’ve found. A little encouragement from you can go a long way to making college really affordable!

SAT Fee Waivers   CollegeBoard.com offers waivers of SAT fees for families who qualify due to lower income. You can learn more here. If you do qualify for a fee waiver, you may also qualify for a waiver of several different college and university application fees. Learn more here.

This link will take you to specific information about income qualifications.

Contact your high school guidance counselor to receive a waiver card. The waiver allows you to take the SAT up to four time at no charge.

Do you research and you could earn and save a boodle.

To view the upcoming SAT test schedule click here
Visit www.CollegeBoard.com for more details.

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